RE: InDesign and Frame

[Kevin McLauchlan <KMcLauchlan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Adam Korman said:

	[snip]

> but I'd
> bet that most of Frame's market remains untapped. There are plenty of
> people
> using MS Word who should be using Frame.
> 
> As I see it there are two big obstacles to wider adoption of Frame (and
> both
> can be blamed on Adobe):
> 
> 1. A lot of people have never even heard of FrameMaker. Of those that
> have,
> most don't know what it's really good for -- they think Word can do
> anything
> Frame can do without the additional software and training costs. Or, they
> think that it's only for huge technical pubs departments of massive
> corporations.
> 
> 2. The common perception that Adobe's commitment to Frame's future is
> questionable. Whether this is true or not is almost irrelevant --
> perception
> is all that counts. A lot of companies aren't willing to make an
> investment
> in expensive software they think won't be supported, developed and
> updated.
> 
	Hear! Hear!    or     Here! Here!

	I second that emotion.

	I'm currently using FrameMaker for exactly one reason:
	Before this little company decided they needed a full-time 
	techy writer, their most frequently contracted writer happened 
	to use FM.

	That's it.  Period.  If not for that, I'd be using Word and asking 
	for Ventura. FrameMaker is practically an underground cult fetish, 
	invisible to those who don't already know the passwords and 
	the secret handshake.

	Given the intensity and visibility with which Adobe markets all 
	its other products, the FrameMaker vacuum is absolutely 
	pregnant with meaning.  The inescapable conclusion to draw, 
	from the fact that one needs to DIG to find mention of Frame 
	on the Adobe web site, is that we should all be stepping up our 
	efforts to find a replacement/successor product.  FM version 6 
	is an unlikelihood, looking for a place not to happen.

	Hell, even a good solid rumor that Adobe was planning to SELL 
	FrameMaker to a good new home (don't anybody say Microsoft...) 
	would be a positive sign.

	Perception may not be everything, but in marketing it comes 
	darn close.  For something so hefty, FM comes embarrassingly 
	close to disappearing whenever it turns sideways.  I know where 
	the beef is... where's the sizzle?

	</end rant>

	/k

	PS:  I don't have back-issues handy. Anybody happen to notice 
	        how many full-page FrameMaker ads have appeared in the 
	        STC rag in the past year?

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