Re: Are Adobe's wheels coming off?

["Rick Quatro" <frameexpert@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I don't about their wheels coming off, but Adobe is slowly degenerating into
a second-rate software company. Dr. Warnock can say all he wants about his
fondness for FrameMaker, but much of the rest of his company doesn't seem to
know it exists. Did anyone at Adobe know that the PSPrinter 5.1.1 doesn't
work correctly with FrameMaker? If so, why isn't the information posted in
the release notes for the driver?

One sign of a second-rate company is how they look at their customers. They
have a pie chart of their total sales divided by products. The largest
slices get the most support and attention, while the smallest slices are
ignored. This is a natural consequence of a company that has just cut a
significant number of jobs. Of course, this is a small consolation to the
individual customer that paid more for FrameMaker than the customer that
purchased PhotoShop.

I know that Lee Richardson and others at Adobe care about FrameMaker and its
users. But they can't overcome the negative inertia of the company as a
whole. Today was another case in point. I received a renewal notice for
Adobe Magazine, which says it covers "...the Adobe products you rely on,
including Photoshop, Illustrator, Acrobat, PageMaker, After Effects,
Premier, and--coming soon--InDesign and GoLive as well." The list almost
looks like it was read from the pie chart! Doesn't marketing know that Adobe
Magazine covers FrameMaker, and that they are trying to sell a subscription
to a FrameMaker user? Don't they know that omitting FrameMaker almost
guarantees that I won't buy a subscription?

This latest episode with Acrobat 4.05 shows that Adobe has lost their
bearings with other products besides FrameMaker. It is bad enough to charge
money for bug fixes, but especially on a product that is part of Adobe's
technology vision for the future (according to Dr. Warnock). A first-rate
company would take the loss and mail the update FREE to its registered
customers, instead of alienating them with, "We made mistakes in our
software, and we want you to pay for the repairs. And by the way, part of
the repair won't work with FrameMaker." This is a classic example of adding
insult to injury.

Part of the InDesign strategy is that hard-core Quark XPress users may be
willing to switch because of Quark's well-earned reputation for poor
customer service and support. Most Quark users love XPress, but hate Quark.
But now it appears that Adobe is willing to lose its edge in the service and
support area. As a consultant, I have changed to recommending Adobe PRODUCTS
because I am no longer comfortable recommending Adobe as a COMPANY. It is
going to be difficult to explain to my clients why Adobe is charging for a
bug fix, after I recommended their product.

Rick Quatro
Carmen Publishing
716 659-8267
frameexpert@mindspring.com
FrameScript Information at http://www.mindspring.com/~frameexpert




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