Adobe to Acquire Macromedia

[VisionsUnleashed]

The combination of Adobe and Macromedia strengthens our mission of helping people and organizations communicate better.

http://www.adobe.com/aboutadobe/invrelations/adobeandmacromedia.htm

Big news for content creators. I wonder how the individual products will pan out.

[Amukidi]

Well - every design studio in the world uses their products, they are all overpriced, and there must be millions of illegal copies of their apps on home computers round the globe!
Dunno about big news for content creators tho - what exactly do you expect (apart from some fat bonuses for senior board members of the respective companies).

[RayV]

word!
totally agree w u, amukidi

[VisionsUnleashed]

Dunno about big news for content creators tho

What? omg where do I start...

illustrator , freehand
photoshop, fireworks
golive, dreamweaver

then there's technologies such as adobe's svg and the now discontinued adobe atmosphere and also macromedia;s shokwave3d format. There's plenty of crossovers and potentials. This is BIG news for content creators.

[Amukidi]

What, you think they are going to suddenly change? I doubt it, all of their apps are pretty well evolved over a long time, and most of them do a fantastic job. They are all fairly cross-usable, and deliver professional solutions.
Personally, I use some of their apps, because I have to but I don't find any of them "fun" to use. This, I feel is a serious shortfall of this range of software. However, I also accept that they are targeted at professional studios, who will almost always buy pro training as part of the package. Conversely, I really enjoy using Vegas, Paintshop Pro and Painter.
I'm sure there are plenty who feel the same way about Premiere and After Effects, but I like my software to work transparently, so I don't really know I'm using it, (if you know what I mean), this allows me to focus on the work.
Horses for courses innt?

[neoteo]

you poeple are so strange , with all that talk , " focus on work " what do you think we do ??? i say we , after effects and other hi end soft users ? do you think we are every 5 minutes running to read the manual ? ... forget it ... i ride aae with out thinking .. premiere with my eyes closed ... and final cut .. with one finger only ...
its totaly not true that complex soft like after effects are less user friendly then others ... OPEN YOUR MIND
this i can only tell you ... i know you must ride it your selfe to believe ... so never mind me
going on topic ...

adobe + macromedia ?
yeahhhhh , clap clap clap clap clap

if they use whats best in each and add to the other ... ultra cool
about who will make more money ... who cares
im not in software buseniss

[Amukidi]

forget it ... i ride aae with out thinking .. premiere with my eyes closed ... and final cut .. with one finger only ...

Simple courtesy prevents me giving my true answer to this.....
But suffice it to say, the proof of the pudding......
:zzz:

[akira_k]

This is sad.

Because I love macromedia apps, and lpots of them are surely going to disappear.

Why retain fireworks when there's Photoshop? I love fireworks :(

Freehand will be completely maimed, after al, Illustrator is teh industry choice for vector graphics. Couldnt care about this though.

GoLIve is shit so I surely dont hope they ditch Dreamweaver.

and I surely hope they dont destroy Flash in favour of SVG.

we'll see what comes ouut of this but I never liked Adobe but I liked macromedia, and if they discontinue some of my favorite apps I''ll be really pissed off... thinking that this will be a synergic merge is naive at best, IMO.

[VisionsUnleashed]

Amukidi: Users of these programs are not hoodwinked into using them, they use them because they work and work well.

They are not designed for hobbyists with limited technical knowledge or training resources, they are designed for professionals. As you originally agreed. So I find your latest post, bizzare.

[Amukidi]

So I find your latest post, bizzare.

Ha ha, you ain't reading between the lines then.......

[hamageddon]

is there anybody who really believes that we're going to get better products by elimination of competitors? think again.

[VJFranzK]

= ProDesign Software Monopoly? ;) great, eh?
It seems every industry is doing this, lately

- until Apple releaces some of it's own image editing software. (seems likely, iPaint or something?)

(beyond appleworks, I mean.)

[lightandshadow]

Originally posted by hamageddon
is there anybody who really believes that we're going to get better products by elimination of competitors? think again.

I agree that competition makes better products, but was there really any serious competition between Macromedia and Adobe recently?

Dreamweaver vs. GoLive ? Dreamweaver dominates the market.

??? vs. Flex? Adobe doesn't have a Flash class library

??? vs. Cold Fusion?
??? vs. JRun (Java application server)? Adobe doesn't have application server solutions.

Freehand vs. Illustrator? Illustrator is by far the most popular.

Flash vs. SVG? Flash has a 95% of the market. SGV has limited use on the server side for vertical applications and virtually non-existent percentage of the browser market.

Flash vs. Live Motion? Live motion was discontinued due to lack of sales about a year ago. (I'm surprised it took this long.)

Fireworks vs. Photoshop? Ok. This one's somewhat closer. Actually I use both, but for different tasks. Photoshop is untouchable for image retouching and design. good for one-off web image exports. Fireworks for slicing up complete images into tables.

Acrobat vs. ??? Macromedia doesn't have a document format.

After Effects vs ???
Premier vs. ??? Macromedia doesn't have video editing products

Did the presence of GoLive in the market make Dreamweaver product? Initially? Yes. Lately? I don't think so.

The most recent competition between Adobe and Macromedia was over their inspectors and UI. I seem to remember Adobe sued Macromedia over their docking pallets and UI.

Adobe still has competition in it's video editing and FX market with Apple (Final Cut / Motion /Shake) DIGITRAXX, (Vegas), etc.

[alangeering]

adition to your list

Acrobat vs. Flash Paper - something that will now never see much marketing or development


With fewer suppliers there will be less price competition, expect everything to slowly head to $100 or $150 more than you can get now.

[VisionsUnleashed]

Amukidi: I am reading between the lines. Which is why I find your post bizarre, because you contradict yourself.

[MoRpH]

Less competition = bad for the customer and end user... simple

[RootsDigitalized]

I hope the price getting cheaper.. if it's not... what for ?

[VJFranzK]

I hope the price getting cheaper.. if it's not... what for ?

With no competition? ;) They can charge whatever they want. :scared:

at least theres Gimp

[brain]

is a move towards some "adosoft" giant who has so much power other companys can't compete. this will not make products any cheaper.
and i doubt its for the better of product quality - without competition, they can get away with any bugged releases and stupid updates. check out uncle bills product range. worst value for money ever, and still in command.

[neoteo]

i wonder why most of you sound so negative ???

what is a fair price for a software ?
we dont have a clue what takes to make a soft like after effects
its the colombus egg ...

apart from rant :

With no competition? They can charge whatever they want.

... sure they can ... but we can use pirate soft as well

[alangeering]

OK, neo, lets have a discussion on "fair"

Ignoring absolute price and loooking at reletive pricing US/UK:

Alan Geering posted at AnandTech News

Macromedia were a favourite of mine because they usually sold their products at a fair price here in Europe (especiall here in Europe).

Adobe quite often just swapped the $ sign for a ? sign and sold us their product for 70%-80% extra.

Prices before tax: Video Collection Professional
UK Price $2,552.89 (?1,335.00)
US Price $1,499.00 (?783.808)

What makes this even more frustrating is the education price for the product in the UK is ?677 (?795 inc tax).

The site claims "Individuals can also purchase Adobe products with huge cost savings."


Yes, there will be a few extra costs in supporting the product in the UK, but charging 70% extra is just outrageous.

Prices before tax: Macromedia Studio w Flash Pro
US price $899 (?471)
UK price $1,136 (?595)

That is an increas of 26%, and much more believable in terms of localisation costs, etc.

[karl]

im not worried about competition, Adobes move to eat Macromedia is strategical to fight Microsoft's Avalon Project... There will be plenty of corporate blood rest asure.

But i would rather have seen Macromedia eat Adobe as I have learned to love many of Macromedia products. Looking away from the hellish abyss called ConFusion.. er .. i mean ColdFusion that i wouldnt piss on even if it was on fire(yes, i do got issues) i think they gave us a lot of good stuff.

Just my 0.2 eurocents... is it cents?

[MoRpH]

Yet another great reason to move to Nvu and Gimpshop ;)

[xiayu]

wow, this is really big news! flash+pdf?

[Stuart]

many points

1st, MS is way more dominant than Apple in the OS market but Apple still puts a lot of pressure on MS. Competition is good.

anyway, on to the usability debate. I am a Maya user. A fellow in my office has been trying to learn it off an on for awhile with not much success. Recently he gave me an app to demo that he said was way easier and fun to use. I checked it out. It's a toy. Sure it's easier because it doesn't do shit. Fun? Well, the interface has lots of frustrating shiny geegaws that look like some fan boy designed them but a half hour with it had me pulling my hair out. Carerra 3D basics is the app. I'm sure if all ya want to do is bevel text it's great but please don't try and tell me it's a better 3D content creation app. Sheesh.

I work in a large design studio, we don't use any macromedia apps. OTOH, if someone shakes things up and fixes a lot of the bullshit in the AE interface (can I please have useable animation curves?) I'm all for it.

[many2]

Originally posted by Stuart
OTOH, if someone shakes things up and fixes a lot of the bullshit in the AE interface (can I please have useable animation curves?) I'm all for it.

I want control curves in AE too ! I've heard AE7 is going to have them, that would be really nice.

[hamageddon]

Originally posted by neoteo

[QUOTE]what is a fair price for a software ?
start with comparing Flash MX toSwish Max.

its the colombus egg ...
Columbus egg is a tale that basically shows how a difficult problem can be solved with a simple solution .

... sure they can ... but we can use pirate soft as well :
:rolleyes: great idea. thank you.

[karl]

the columbus egg is just a remake of the old classic gordian knot. i hate remakes...

[neoteo]

Originally posted by karl
the columbus egg is just a remake of the old classic gordian knot. i hate remakes...

well . tell us the old classic gordian story then ...

[karl]

once upon history this thug ass playah called a-lex was crusing the middle east side for fun and profit. the gordians had a hardass knot and they stepped up and called a-lex out as a foo. bitch, you suxx0r, and has no skillz. you say your ill but untie this knot beeeaaatch..

but a-lex was no fool and whipped out his tech-nine and put a cap in the knots ass. all the gordian bitches reckognized and gave cred. a-lex roxx0rd the scene and the middle east coast was his for ownage.

but all historical facts put aside, mr alexander showed asymetrical thinking, and the columbus egg does to...

[lowRes]

?! freehand + illustrator = frustrator ?!

r_x
* )

[VisionsUnleashed]

lowres, are u a member of cgtalk per chance?

[neoteo]

Originally posted by lowRes
?! freehand + illustrator = frustrator ?!

r_x
* )

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH , i dont know how to use those softs , but that was funny somehow ...

ps : im posting this in a G4 Titanium 17inch 2GB ram.my friend got this to play logic audio.its soft :)

[lowRes]

Originally posted by VisionsUnleashed
lowres, are u a member of cgtalk per chance?

nop..?

but i banged my head a lot with those two..
i was in the process of finnally deciding wich i should bet more on..
so i've decided now!..
heheheh!

r_x
* )

[VisionsUnleashed]

I posted a response at cgtalk with that same joke a friend of mine told me when he told me the news. I was just curious how you came about it.

[lowRes]

weeelll..
it's the easiest name combination among all apps ain?t it?!

r_x

[akira_k]

Originally posted by karl
once upon history this thug ass playah called a-lex was crusing the middle east side for fun and profit. the gordians had a hardass knot and they stepped up and called a-lex out as a foo. bitch, you suxx0r, and has no skillz. you say your ill but untie this knot beeeaaatch..

but a-lex was no fool and whipped out his tech-nine and put a cap in the knots ass. all the gordian bitches reckognized and gave cred. a-lex roxx0rd the scene and the middle east coast was his for ownage.

LOL! I'm saving this one ;D