Adobe to acquire Macromedia. Wow. This is a big concern. Too much of the industry’s software in the hands of one company?
This is crazy! I wasn't even aware this was going on. Surely Adobe would realize the Mac was their business mainstay for so many years and not do anything to disrupt the delicate balance of power between PC and MAC. There is also the delicate balance between the Macromedia Suite and Creative Suite. Remember when Adobe bought the company that makes CoolEdit then just rebranded it? It sure didn't seem like there was much push behind it. So here's to hoping they won't just do a rebranding job and let Macromedia die...
It's highly improbable that Adobe would pull their products from the Apple market (effectively removing their nose to spite their face)... but say goodbye to Freehand and Fireworks.
I'm not sure that culling Freehand and Fireworks are exactly horrible things. I am more concerned about the fate of things like ColdFusion (Adobe's not known for creating great programming apps). I'm also worried about Dreamweaver getting junked up by the creators of GoLive, but we'll see how that goes.
As for Apple and Macrodobe: I wouldn't start the doomsday clock just yet. Josh has an excellent point about nose removal.
Macromedia has several 'ship jumpers' who were ready to take flight and start something new. I think the writing was on the wall with this one. Freehand is toast. But it was getting it's ass kicked by Illustrator. Fireworks is unique and has a good market following. I think Adobe will think twice about giving it the axe. Director will die which will lead the way to a Flash/Premiere/AfterEffects superpower serial killer application. All in all, I think it's too early to tell what will happen on this one as the shock hasn't worn off yet.
JFC
Macrodobe. Interesting ring.
The sentiment amongst my friends and coworkers has always been, Why can't Adobe or Macromedia make one suite of software that has the best features of each? An Illustrator/FreeHand hybrid, Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Acrobat, and Fireworks. I don't think this buyout is the answer - only bad things happen when there's no competition in a market.
Exactly. I honestly wish this were large enough to warrant at least an inquiry by the FCC to question the merger.
I, for one, welcome our new publishing overlords.
I'm tired of buying both product suites and end up having duplicate software on my machine. I use Illustrator not Freehand, I use Dreamweaver (Homesite) not GoLive, I hate Flash (ok, no worries there). Hopefully they'll take the best of each world and combine them into one software package that costs less than a new Porsche.
The odds are that I should skip having children, because their college money will have to be spent on software.
I agree with Kraabel, but I also fear the Macrodobe UberSuite carrying a five-figure price tag. Can anyone say 'Avid'?
Now granted, I was half-asleep when I heard the story on NPR this morning, but my husband told me that they said the buyout did have to be approved by the SEC. He says they tend to sort of rubber-stamp approve this stuff, but silly me, I hold out hope.
Ugh. SEC. Uh, yes, that's what I meant. Silly acronyms.
It could be a good thing. Photoshop and Illustrator stand head and shoulders above Freehand and Fireworks. But I personally think Dreamweaver is much better than GoLive. I sure hope they don't scrap Dreamweaver, or worse, build a whole new program based on GoLive but with a few features of Dreamweaver. It will sure be interesting to see. Any thoughts as to how long it will be before they ship their first combined-effort suite? I think Macromedia was getting ready to launch a new version of MX 2004?
I'm horrified by this latest development. Want to know why I buy Macromedia products? BECAUSE THEY'RE CHEAPER, and I don't need all the bells and whistles that Adobe products provide. Damnit, Jim, I'm a PC-based Web hobbyist, not a print designer. I simply don't have the budget to purchase Adobe.
My concern is that the next generation of design tools will be so out of reach that small developers like myself will have no choice but to resort to piracy.
Arg! Pirates they shall be!
Here's the bottom line. Adobe had the print market, they tried, and tried and tried to take the web market. They failed almost every time. So they bought the company that conquered the web market.
Adobe is the PC of Design, it's does everything you want it to do, but it does have issues and isn't that aesthically pleasing.
Macromedia is the Apple of Design. It decided to focus on the aesthetic, but didn't go as much for substance. It almost fits the bill, but falls short on several occasions. It has a much easier learing curve to it's products but that means it has to stay away from the multi-step tasks that make it 'less professional' than Adobe.
That being said each has their place. Fireworks isn't as good as Photoshop, but is much better than ImageReady. Dreamweaver/Homesite dominates over GoLive. Flash...well, Abobe tried with LiveMotion and that tanked. Illustrator stands miles above Freehand. I think Adobe should take their time before dismantling the Macromedia empire. Macromedia has tried to integrate as much as they can with Adobe, if they take it a bit further; we can have the best of both worlds.
JFC
> Ugh. SEC. Uh, yes, that's what I meant. Silly acronyms.
Actually, I believe it's the FTC that must approve this transaction.
Double ugh! I give up.
As a dedicated user of Freehand this is upsetting to me at least. I guess it is time to learn how to use the copy of Illustrator that has been collecting dust on my hard drive.
I do know that I absolutely hate the terrible performance of Illustrator CS on slower machines. And my little PowerBook 12" isn't a speed demon.
After I read the news on Macromedia.com, I found out an interesting thing. They didn't spoke about Fireworks or Photoshop... or any other product, but ACROBAT READER.
It seems that they want to make a hybrid of PDF and Flash ;)
That's ok to me, it would be nice to have Flash animated PDF's.
BUT my problem, and everyone else's is FIREWORKS. Leaving out Dreamweaver of discussion, because it's for those who are too lasy to write hand code ;), I think Fireworks is better than Photoshop from the following point of views:
1) Layer managing (Grouping and creating symbols, a thing that Photoshop never heard of)
2) Virtual Memory managing ( Adobe Photoshop has a BIG BUG when it comes to RAM... you know what I'm talking about)
3) THE PRICE. Fireworks it's cheaper than Photoshop and it knows about Adobe's plugins.
In conclusion... for an amateur to pro WEBdesigner I think Fireworks is the BEST solution.
Geoffrey Long ~ 18 April 2005 at 06:44 AM
Makes you wonder what'll happen if Apple continues to piss off Adobe with iPhoto and Final Cut Pro. If Macrodobe yanks all their products from the Mac platform, it might be curtains -- Apple can't simultaneously develop killer apps to go up against Flash, Dreamweaver, InDesign, Illustrator and the pro market for Photoshop. And even if they did, every print shop on the planet would have to upgrade in order to support the new competing apps, which isn't going to happen. The latest Apple deathwatch starts now!