It doesn?t make sense anymore to repeat all the anxious questions why the hell
Adobe buried the better software, keeping the worse one alive. We are designers
and producers in the middle of life, not small-minded bookkeepers talking about
daily market share. We always just wanted to work with the very best vector
drawing program available. It was, and it is called "Freehand". The web is
stuffed with corresponding posts by countless, disappointed Freehand
enthusiasts.

Just let me focus on that tiny, little Bezigon tool Freehand comes with. For
20 years digitizing logos and letterings was quick and easy, just setting a few
anchor points at typical positions, letting the Bezier routines draw the rest.
Illustrator simply doesn?t have such a tool. It takes double and triple time
to draw clean shapes with its cheesy, manual drawing tools. Does ADOBE want to
sell amateur toys?

Now they own the source code of Freehand. Everything?s finally ready to be
dumped. In the case of PageMaker, ADOBE at least offered an InDesign version
which had a built-in palette of PageMaker functions. So one could forget the
old software step by step. Nothing like that with Illustrator. Eat it or die! I
won?t eat it that way.

Maybe the programmers at ADOBE are too stuck-up to admit that Freehand as a
whole is the superior vector software. Here?s some advice to get round with
that obstacle, using the Bezigon tool as an example: Yes, that tool could be
implemented in Illustrator and RENAMED! Yes, it could also come as an optional
plugin! Yes, of course, you could also let a third party developer do that job!

Yes, of course, ... or PLEASE, sell Freehand to another company and let?em
work on it and compete with Illustrator, like it was in the past. This would be
sooo courageous, and we could love ADOBE again for giving us PhotoShop. Isn?t
it love (and Freehand) we all need so much? ...

> It doesn?t make sense anymore to repeat all the anxious questions why the
> hell
> Adobe buried the better software, keeping the worse one alive.

But then you go on to ask those exact questions? In two posts? an hour
apart? ;0)

-Darrel

When I tried to post the first message my browser crashed, so I wrote another
one with the same content. Later I realized that the first message had gone
through despite the crash. --- I didn?t ask those "market share" questions
again because these don?t interest me. I made proposals how to save at least an
extremely important FH tool which Illustrator doesn?t offer. Selling Freehand
would of course be the best solution. Let users decide ...

I think the most sensible approach would be to rename Freehand as Illustrator Pro...

I think the most sensible approach would be to rename Freehand as Illustrator Pro...



LOL!! Great post

> Selling Freehand
> would of course be the best solution.

For us.

But who cares about us? This is about making money. Adobe is going to do
what's right for business.

-Darrel

We can?t elect another CEO, take over Adobe or keep shareholders from craving
for more and more profit. Our only option is to protest again and again. A
company which doesn?t respect objectively based opinions of its customers of
many years' standing will get into big problems sooner or later. What?s
superficially right for business might turn out to be completely wrong for
customer satisfaction ... By the way, it?s also about OUR money and OUR time we
invested into Freehand for so long.

Gotta add a very interesting note to the "Bezigon tool" matter I discussed
above. Read this statement entitled "What's the Difference Between the Bezigon
Tool and the Pen Tool? ... These Pen tool features make FreeHand's Pen tool the
most elegant and refined tool of any vector drawing program currently
available. With practice, you can draw virtually any path correctly the first
time, without going back to edit curve handles or alter points."

OK, where do you think that statement comes from? ... ... ... It?s an official
ADOBE TECH NOTE you?ll find at http://www.adobe.com/go/tn_12226

Yes, they know it. But they don?t say it, and they don?t act.

What an amazing ADOBE TECH NOTE, it is unbelievable. Thanks crydiger ;-)

> A
> company which doesn?t respect objectively based opinions of its customers
> of
> many years' standing will get into big problems sooner or later.

Monopoplies have no such fear.

-Darrel