Adobe to be largely a no-show at Macworld 2009

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
Usually one of most reliable and dominating presences on the show floor at Macworld's annual San Francisco expo, Adobe Systems is now warning that its presence at the 2009 event will be limited to the sidelines.



The well-known Photoshop developer told show hosts Macworld on Wednesday that it will "shift focus" and drop plans for its typically large booth.



Instead, Adobe will relegate itself to certain session tracks that include a complete day of demonstrations for the individual Creative Suite 4 apps.



The software firm is quick to dismiss any notions of ill will between itself and Macworld's parent company IDG, calling Macworld Expo a "valuable industry show" that it intends to participate in.



"The Mac community is very important to us and we will continue our strong support for this platform," the official statement reads.



No direct explanation is given for the pullback, though the news falls on the same day as Adobe has announced that it would miss its fall quarter revenue targets due to the world economic crisis. As part of an effort to improve its financial health, the company plan to cut 600 full-time jobs worldwide and to sharpen its focus on "key strategic priorities" that now don't appear to include its usual show booth.



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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 50
    ivladivlad Posts: 742member
    Oh \ That's sad. Usually they have the best booths with great people. Well they'll be missed this year.



    On the lighter note, Apple now has twice as much space!!!
  • Reply 2 of 50
    melgrossmelgross Posts: 33,510member
    Yeah, it's too bad, but it parallels what Apple itself is doing. They left the Macworld when it went back to Boston, which killed that.



    They didn't appear at this year's Photo Expo here in NYC this last October, after appearing at the two before, etc.



    These expo's are losing ground all around. It's possible that the Macworld's will go that way too.
  • Reply 3 of 50
    Abobe is scared to face the wrath of users after releasing CS4 a mere 14 months after CS3 was released. Abobe used to go 3 years between releases. I guess ever since they gobbled up Macromedia and became a monopoly in pro graphics software they figure they can get away with charging what they want, as often as they want. They're just a bunch of rapists, IMO.
  • Reply 4 of 50
    melgrossmelgross Posts: 33,510member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by popnfresh View Post


    Abobe is scared to face the wrath of users after releasing CS4 a mere 14 months after CS3 was released. Abobe used to go 3 years between releases. I guess ever since they gobbled up Macromedia and became a monopoly in pro graphics software they figure they can get away with charging what they want, as often as they want. They're just a bunch of rapists, IMO.



    No, they're not.



    Where do you get that idea from?



    And when did they ever go three years? It's always been around 18 months, give or take a few.
  • Reply 5 of 50
    hmurchisonhmurchison Posts: 12,419member
    I understand Adobe and other companies doing this. Costs need to be managed and you need to leverage tradeshows when they stand to make a large impact in your business.



    Apple didn't buy a big booth at NAB last year and some people freaked but in reality they had nothing to show that people hadn't already seen.



    Of course this "could" mean that in a scant few months Adobe will announce that all of their applications will go to being PC only.
  • Reply 6 of 50
    jeffdmjeffdm Posts: 12,951member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by popnfresh View Post


    Abobe is scared to face the wrath of users after releasing CS4 a mere 14 months after CS3 was released. Abobe used to go 3 years between releases.



    I call BS. The interval between 3 and 4 is about 18 months, not 14. I don't see three years between any releases.



    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adobe_P...elease_history



    If you have better sources, please post it.
  • Reply 7 of 50
    melgrossmelgross Posts: 33,510member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by JeffDM View Post


    I call BS. The interval between 3 and 4 is about 18 months, not 14. I don't see three years between any releases.



    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adobe_P...elease_history



    If you have better sources, please post it.



    He doesn't. It's the typical looniness we get here.
  • Reply 8 of 50
    ...to apply their proven expertise in usable stable quality software to the integration and improvement of Macromedia products - or allow the appalling design, engineering and usability of their acquisition to infect Adobe's own. As someone using Dreamweaver CS3 (paid) that STILL has major problems ftping a file over 200K in size on anything but a 8MB connection (no, it's NOT me!), and is just generally an example of buggy software with a crap interface design (to put it bluntly!), I think Adobe dropped the ball a few years ago. What a contrast to Apple's very well executed Keynote, iPhoto and other apps that are a delight to use - not to mention the iPhone experience itself. Apple are simply filling the void left by a company that has lost its way with a multitude of bloated apps that appear to merge their functionality causing total confusion to some of us. And Flash has so many issues that to be frank, I don't blame Apple not using it on the iPhone. I am on a 24Megabit optical broadband connection and the BBC's Flash based streaming audio (i)Player stutters and looses the sound constantly. But if I fire up an Internet radio app on our company iPod Touch 2G (V2?) and tune into the Beebeecee (or any other streaming audio source), it works just lovely jubbly!) (As a human factors guy, I have a big problem with how Flash handles browser 'Back' buttons anyway, that is, it doesn't!) Adobe, get your act together, or become like MS and go all mediocre and complicated...
  • Reply 9 of 50
    albimalbim Posts: 68member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Wonderkid View Post


    ...to apply their proven expertise in usable stable quality software to the integration and improvement of Macromedia products - or allow the appalling design, engineering and usability of their acquisition to infect Adobe's own. As someone using Dreamweaver CS3 (paid) that STILL has major problems ftping a file over 200K in size on anything but a 8MB connection (no, it's NOT me!), and is just generally an example of buggy software with a crap interface design (to put it bluntly!), I think Adobe dropped the ball a few years ago. What a contrast to Apple's very well executed Keynote, iPhoto and other apps that are a delight to use - not to mention the iPhone experience itself. Apple are simply filling the void left by a company that has lost its way with a multitude of bloated apps that appear to merge their functionality causing total confusion to some of us. And Flash has so many issues that to be frank, I don't blame Apple not using it on the iPhone. I am on a 24Megabit optical broadband connection and the BBC's Flash based streaming audio (i)Player stutters and looses the sound constantly. But if I fire up an Internet radio app on our company iPod Touch 2G (V2?) and tune into the Beebeecee (or any other streaming audio source), it works just lovely jubbly!) (As a human factors guy, I have a big problem with how Flash handles browser 'Back' buttons anyway, that is, it doesn't!) Adobe, get your act together, or become like MS and go all mediocre and complicated...



    [/rant]

    But I agree
  • Reply 10 of 50
    Ok, a smiley face in the subject line is not enough to submit a post. I have to type something. So, glad you agree. Hopefully the man from Adowbee is scanning these here forums and will bang his fist on the big glass table in their San Jose board room and ensure some asses are kicked...



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ALBIM View Post


    [/rant]

    But I agree



  • Reply 11 of 50
    Its probably all about the bottom line; booths are expensive marketing tools and if the economy worsens, businesses and consumers are not going to be running out to buy $1,000 software programs.
  • Reply 12 of 50
    iqatedoiqatedo Posts: 1,822member
    Is Adobe a possible takeover target for Apple? Would it benefit Apple to acquire Adobe even if it could? Could the two cultures work beside each other to advance their respective arts?



    Anyone here have worthwhile insights?
  • Reply 13 of 50
    melgrossmelgross Posts: 33,510member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by IQatEdo View Post


    Is Adobe a possible takeover target for Apple? Would it benefit Apple to acquire Adobe even if it could? Could the two cultures work beside each other to advance their respective arts?



    Anyone here have worthwhile insights?



    I don't know if they're worthwhile, but I've jawed about this here before.



    I thought Apple should have bought Macromedia when they put themselves up for sale.



    Buying Adobe would present some problems, esp after THEY bought Macromedia. first of all, it would be expensive. Apple hasn't done expensive.



    Secondly, most of Adobes sales are for PC's. What does Apple do about that?



    If you buy one program, you can discontinue support for other platforms But if you buy a company that has a large number of products, and two thirds of their sales come from other platforms, you can't do that. If Apple did, they would destroy the value of their purchase, which would negate the whole point.



    I don't see it, unless Apple wants to become the major supplier of graphics, publishing, and video editing software for the Windows PC world.
  • Reply 14 of 50
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by melgross View Post


    No, they're not.



    Where do you get that idea from?



    And when did they ever go three years? It's always been around 18 months, give or take a few.



    OK, maybe 3 years was a bit of an exaggeration for rhetorical reasons--it was more like 2 years, but still, today Adobe is going to the well far too frequently. Let's take a look at Photoshop's release history, for example.



    Photoshop 2.5 - released 11/1992



    Photoshop 3.0 - released 11/1994



    Photoshop 4.0 - released 11/1996



    after that, the schedule accelerates...



    Photoshop 5.0 - released 5/1998



    then slows back down...



    Photoshop 6.0 - released 9/2000



    then accelerates again...



    Photoshop 7.0 - released 3/2002



    Photoshop CS - released 10/2003



    Photoshop CS2 - released 4/2005



    then back to Adobe's original 2-year schedule...



    Photoshop CS3 - released 4/2007



    Photoshop CS4 - released 10/2008



    The interval between CS3 and CS4 is the shortest in Adobe's history. I rest my case.
  • Reply 15 of 50
    iqatedoiqatedo Posts: 1,822member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by melgross View Post


    I don't know if they're worthwhile, but I've jawed about this here before.



    I thought Apple should have bought Macromedia when they put themselves up for sale.



    Buying Adobe would present some problems, esp after THEY bought Macromedia. first of all, it would be expensive. Apple hasn't done expensive.



    Secondly, most of Adobes sales are for PC's. What does Apple do about that?



    If you buy one program, you can discontinue support for other platforms But if you buy a company that has a large number of products, and two thirds of their sales come from other platforms, you can't do that. If Apple did, they would destroy the value of their purchase, which would negate the whole point.



    I don't see it, unless Apple wants to become the major supplier of graphics, publishing, and video editing software for the Windows PC world.



    Excellent points - thanks for that. The relationship with Adobe and their attitudes toward the Mac must be somewhat galling to Apple. Along with Microsoft, Adobe's relationship with Apple stretches back to the earliest days.



    All the best.
  • Reply 17 of 50
    k.c.k.c. Posts: 60member
    Trade shows are quickly becoming an obsolete way to demo your products.



    Particularly since Adobe is heading towards subscribed products that you access over the net and never actually install on your own computer.
  • Reply 18 of 50
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by K.C. View Post


    Trade shows are quickly becoming an obsolete way to demo your products.



    I disagree with this.



    Trade shows (done properly) help generate buzz. And, Adobe needs some buzz for CS4.



    I, for one, am waiting to upgrade to CS4 as it will cost me $1200 for 2 licenses for CS4 Web Developer upgrades and my company has 2 employees. I can't justify spending $1200 so that I can copy in Word 2008 and paste into Dreamweaver.



    None of the reviews, so far, have gotten me excited about CS4.



    More positive, enthusiastic reviews pouring out of Macworld might push me into upgrading.
  • Reply 19 of 50
    k.c.k.c. Posts: 60member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by davebarnes View Post


    More positive, enthusiastic reviews pouring out of Macworld might push me into upgrading.



    CS4 is too little, too soon and too expensive.



    Why would experiencing that in the middle of a big noisy room be any different than reading the reviews. It is what it is.



    Adobe offered to fly a guy from Denver to my studio in Santa Barbara to demo some products. But they were subscribed, not one time purchases. That model is going away.
  • Reply 20 of 50
    It would be pretty lame to hand hundreds of employees pink slips and then announce later that day that you were buying a huge presence at a trade show happening few weeks later. If you're taking drastic measures like cutting the workforce, that means you have major money troubles, and the trade show budget should have been cut already.



    I'm no Adobe apologist, or even a fan, but this is the right move for them.



    At the same time, I'm happy to see that Adobe's old-world Microsoft business plan of buying the competition and spreading its dominance everywhere possible by force is not working out for them. Apple's and Google's resistence to Flash is panning out well. Adobe isn't going anywhere soon, either up or down. It was a shortsighted strategy from the get go, and they're paying for their lack of vision.



    But I do feel bad for the employees who are out of work tonight.
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