I think Freewheeler has a very valid point, which you seems to have missed.

When thousands of professionals has invested decades in learning a software,
it compares very well to learning a language. Why should the owner of the
software suddenly think we are happy to change to a foreign language?

I hope that Adobe is a little smarter and can see the opportunities in all of
these investments instead of ignoring them. What goes around, comes around as
they say...

[q]Originally posted by: Navale
I think Freewheeler has a very valid point, which you seems to have missed.

When thousands of professionals has invested decades in learning a software,
it compares very well to learning a language. Why should the owner of the
software suddenly think we are happy to change to a foreign language?

I hope that Adobe is a little smarter and can see the opportunities in all of
these investments instead of ignoring them. What goes around, comes around as
they say...[/q]

Very simply because according to this new owner there is only 1 language in
town thats why. This new owner has never even really acknowledged a second
language.

What has happy got to do with anything when it comes to business? When has it
ever?

Cheers,
Jeremy

[q]Originally posted by: bigback

What has happy got to do with anything when it comes to business? When has it
ever?

Cheers,
Jeremy
[/q]

You are right, happy consumers are mainly found in market economies...

> I think Freewheeler has a very valid point, which you seems to have missed.

??
I did not miss his point, I extrapolated from it. Disagreeing with a point is
not the same as missing it.

> When thousands of professionals has invested decades in learning a
software...

Businesses have to adapt to changing business environments all the time. For
example, I really really liked my 1950s-ish Craftsman mitre saw. Rugged,
precise, elegant. But they don't make it anymore.

JET
Very heavy FH user since version 2.0

In my world they say about making good business; Find the the customers needs
and try to satisfy them. Adobe seems to go the opposite way and you think this
is just fine..! But this is not the real issue, it is the attitude to not
respond to the customers well founded questions on the future maintenance and
development of Freehand, a product Adobe still are supplying!

I wonder what Adobes major shareholders think about this strategy?

[q]In my world they say about making good business; Find the the customers
needs and try to satisfy them. Adobe seems to go the opposite way and you think
this is just fine..! But this is not the real issue, it is the attitude to not
respond to the customers well founded questions on the future maintenance and
development of Freehand, a product Adobe still are supplying!

I wonder what Adobes major shareholders think about this strategy?[/q]

Navale, I agree with yyou! Adobe is being completely unpressional to us
FreeHand users. If they are not going to upgrade, yes we'll be sad, but at
least they would be acknoledging us. This ignoring that they are doing is bad
business.

I know they can't discuss in detail about products that aren't available yet,
bbut at least Photoshop, Illustrator, Flash and Dreamweaver customers knew that
a new product was coming for them.

I know business has to adapt to change, but to completely ignore customerswho
are asking them directly about a product? I just don't understand.

> Yes, you can crossgrade to AI CS3 from FH9, 10 or MX for $199 US.

I have FH10. I can upgrade to MX for $100, or AI for $199. Tough call...

-Darrel

> Mordy goes on to say that not only must a change work within Illustrator,
> but also be compatible with the rest of the CS3 suite applications. It may
> be a very long time, if ever, before we see our most cherished FH features
> make it into AI.

What we should do (FH fans) is come up with a comprehensive, but digestible
list of the truly unique features we've all come to love and depend upon in
FH.

Then, we should create an open letter to the world simply stating 'Here are
the things a vector app should have'. Maybe Corel would pick it up. Maybe an
open source project. Maybe even Adobe.

And maybe nothing would ever happen, but it'd be an interesting excercise
none-the-less.

-Darrel

Navale: Adobe seems to go the opposite way and you think this is just fine..!

Did I say it was "just fine"?

Adobe did not make more users buy Illustrator than FreeHand. If FreeHand had
the controling market share, do you think Adobe would not continue to market it?

It's not Honda's "fault" that more Hondas sold than, say, now defunct OSSA
(which was a very fine dirt bike in the 70s). Users decide which program sells
best.

As has been stated here many times: Adobe did not fail FreeHand's marketing
and development; Macromedia did.

As for Adobe not announcing the future of FreeHand, I'm not an appologist for
Adobe (or anyone else). But what software company do you know of that announced
that it was going to discontinue a still-selling product? In my recollection,
one comes to mind: Adobe. The product: PageMaker. Yet it's still available.

Stop making Adobe out to be your enemy. It's a business.

Darrel: What we should do (FH fans) is come up with a comprehensive, but
digestible list of the truly unique features we've all come to love and depend
upon in FH.

Criminy! I've been doing that for years (among a few others). Not preaching to
the choir here, though. Rather, among those who are ultimately responsible for
which program suceeds: ILLUSTRATOR USERS who don't know the advantages they've
been missing.

But understand: A "list of the truly unique features we've all come to love
and depend upon" can be built for just about *any* drawing program. FH's
feature set is now rather dated. And even before it started looking
long-in-the-tooth, it has been missing many things which should be
standard-fare in a "professional" 2D Bezier drawing program.

JET

Is Honda Adobe? If so I'm ready to get on board with this save OSSA cause
Honda doesnt know what its doing. That OSSA has a whole lot of features that
your average Honda cant touch. Who's with me?! Lets boycott Honda untill we
get OSSA 2.0!

Wait, I dont own a Honda, guess I was boycotting them all along.