re ADBE's business
Knowing ADBE has some serviceable tech is different from having confidence in their capacity to support a profitable long-term business. Solaris? OS/2? WordPerfect? Might be great tech, but there's at least a good question how much profit they produce.
As for PDF, I would point out that the reason Apple's OS uses PDF as the basis for its screen display tech is that Apple didn't want to pay ADBE's demanded PostScript licensing fees, and PDF is a standard that can be complied with without giving rise to a need to pay ADBE any royalties. There have been at least three independent PDF rendering engines built that I know of: Adobe's, Wil Shipley's, and Apple's. Neither Shipley nor Apple pay ADBE a cent to use them. Other folks may license some implementation of PDF, but they don't have to license the power to use the spec itself.
I know there's a big following of power users whose businesses depend on ADBE's content creation tools. I assume this has a lot of value, but it's not my own field of work (I overwhelmingly create text documents,not multimedia images) and I lack the deep understanding of what differentiates ADBE's products from those of its rivals that would enable me to speak intelligently on the degree to which ADBE's tech involves significant protection from competition.
Apple's business, I better understand. So I invest in Apple and express opinions on it. ADBE's business? I withhold judgment. Not to say I'm pessimistic; indeed, your reply message, if you notice, was to my defense of the probability that ADBE's current web app/software-as-a-service movement was not irrational. So, in effect, I posted to give a general vote of support for ADBE's market moves while expressly saying I don't necessarily have the kind of understanding necessary to back a financial investment -- and get slapped on the wrist for not appropriately admiring the power of ADBE's products to withstand competition.
Here's my personal observation:
Photoshop's UI is so complex and opaque that I find it excruciating to use, and I am sure that there are features that exist that I simply can't find because I have no idea whatsoever what ADBE has decided to name them or where it has decided to hide access to them.
Photoshop's PDF viewer performs so poorly on my iMac G5 that I routinely use Preview.app to view and search PDFs (search is so damn much faster in Apple's implementation that it's hard to imagine what ADBE could have done to be so pokey), and I use Adobe's (freeware) product only when I absolutely must type into a PDF form that I later intend be edited. Even then, ADBE's tool impairs my control over my print options, and I find it obnoxious to use. And the UI is less responsive than other text-handling apps, including Apple's PDF viewer (that can allow typing in text fields, but saves non-editable versions). Basically, ADBE's PDF reader's tool for typing into text fields leaves me feeling like I'm trying to type into a big Pages document -- even if it's just a 1-page PDF. The difference between ADBE's product and Pages is that I honestly expect Pages to get faster.
But despite my personal reservations about the experience using Adobe's products, I point out that I am not their core market, so I reserve judgment.
Take care,
--Tex.
PS I have an old HP LaserJet that lacks built-in PostScript, and I considered getting a hardware chip with the PS built in, but the freeware GhostScript software has done a great job of putting excellent text on my LaserJet. There may be a great reason to use PostScript printers, and there may be excellent reasons that freeware like GhostScript will be unable to obsolete PS in the near term, but I don't know these reasons. I just know that the old, eBay-available chips that would enable PS in hardware on my printer are just not needed, and it does raise in me some curiosity whether there's a serious need in anyone's printer. But, it's not my field, I'm not an expert, so I reserve judgment.
AI
