Comments on: “Dear InDesign, Illustrator…”

By: Bez Palmer

Bez Palmer — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 12:39:02 +0000

One thing I see on Illustrator posts nearly ubiquitously: references to Freehand and it’s perceived points of superiority. Maybe I notice it more because I too am a Freehand user who struggles to develop a positive relationship with Illustrator (so far no luck). Rather than rant, gripe, or try to enumerate the ways in which I find Freehand superior, which tend toward questions of usability (i.e. features that improve workflow and/or strike me as more logical and intuitive–where sometimes Illustrator’s equivalent borders on extreme non-usability), I’d like to ask this simple question: how many latent Freehand users are you likely to find with similar sentiments, and why can’t Adobe conduct a comprehensive survey of users who can demonstrate–literally, in person–the ways in which Illustrator might shine on par with the now-dead Freehand (sniff)? Living in Seattle I’d be happy to swing by their offices and do just that. It’s the least they can do for killing a superior application and monopolizing this market sector. That or bring Freehand back to life.

By: Arpan

Arpan — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 05:32:34 +0000

All of you, John, Michael, Mordy and others, thanks for giving a face to Adobe.
It always seemed like nobody cared at Adobe cared about the problems users were having. It may not have been true, but it felt like that. I guess every large company has that problem.
Now, sure you may not be able to answer all the questions, or give us the answers that we were hoping for, but just to know that there are people listening and trying to do something about the problems we users have is very reassuring.

By: jimhere

jimhere — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 16:39:05 +0000

Can/will Kuler be able to sample CMYK (etc) as well as RGB? I think Kuler is more of an Adobe User Community than a picker. [It's both. At the moment it's RGB-only. --J.]

By: John

John — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 13:52:24 +0000

John,
This is off topic but may offer some “graphic goodness” to your family (aka son) on how your money or should I say “their money” they lost here. http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2008/10/01/business/20081002-crisis-graphic.html
But I am going to buy the CS4 “stuff”.
By the way, I am advising my clients to by Adobe stock. Long range I see a 30% bump in 15 months.
On the upswing, (golf that is)
Ken in KY

By: Jon Angelo

Jon Angelo — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 12:10:42 +0000

Dear John
On the feature and workflow side we really have adobe close and listening. Much love.
Just not close enough for the european pricing rip-of scheme.
Seriously why has none of the corporate drones answered that?
Plenty more hate.
/Jon

By: keith

keith — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 08:23:29 +0000

And I thought only John listened to our suggestions.
Dear ‘dobe is an interesting collection of suggestions & (does their keeper know they’re out) rants.

By: Dave Story

Dave Story — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 03:18:41 +0000

It’s been a pleasure to see that folks really want to help us improve our products…and thus the lives (livelihoods?) of many folks.
Despite the harsh tone of many of the comments (normal for the blogosphere where f2f restraint/consideration isn’t present) it has been great to see that we are expected to listen, unlike many other companies. I can’t think of the last time the other companies whose products I use responded to my comments.
I hope folks see that we Adobeans are making a real effort to listen, and to act on the feedback. While results may not show up right away, because of a variety of factors including that most difficult thing, revenue recognition accounting, we ARE listening and working to resolve issues, daily.
I’m particularly interested in how we can get more *actionable* comments and gripes, so I’m off to read Mordy’s posts right now.
Cheers to everyone, and thanks for the feedback!
Dave Story
VP Product Development
Creative Solutions

By: Daydream

Daydream — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 19:05:50 +0000

Just wanted to say, thank you so much to Mike, Mordy & yourself for acknowledging some of those posts on DearAdobe.com. While I think some of the complaints on that website are baseless rants, others have validity to them and it’s great to see some reaction to this from Adobe. Thanks once again for listening to the customer :)

By: Richard Broom

Richard Broom — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 10:21:04 +0000

dot dot dot dash dot – at first glance I thought you said you were sharing MORSE code dot dot dash dash dot dot

By: Kevin Suttle

Kevin Suttle — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 10:03:32 +0000

This is getting insane. The next person that tells Adobe they suck should be sat in front of the workstation and asked to write what is being asked for.
In my personal experience, some people will always find something to complain about, like the icons, and the logo, even after seeing how far CS4 has been taken (see http://aralbalkan.com/1489).
It’s a shame because Adobe is one of the few companies that not only supports community involvement, but also listens to it. Either way, you guys are doing an absolutely fantastic job and I support you 99%*.
(*1% reserved for mind control in Flash.)