Macromedia + Adobe

There's tons of posts out there and a lot of speculation on the future of Adobe now that the acquisition of Macromedia is complete. Other than my concerns over which apps get killed and which are kept, my biggest concern is the future of the websites. What I liked about the Adobe website was the Adobe Studio Exchange. I even submitted some Symbols to the exchange, this one was downloaded over 2,000 times and this one was downloaded over 2,700 times. It is an excellent resource and I tell all my students about it.

I used to visit the Adobe site more frequently for their tips and tutorials, but they are harder to come by now and less frequent.

What I really hope is that Adobe adopts the user forums, developer center, and blogs that I visit daily. There seems to be fresh content on the Macromedia site more frequently than the Adobe site. The Adobe site seems to add content with the release of their products. The Macromedia site is customer-driven. They want to educate their users on how best to user their products. I've always had great responses from members in the forums and I've gleaned a lot of great information from the blogs.

Another key area of the Macromedia site were the Breeze presentations on Macrochat's. Participating in a live demonstration and having the ability to ask the presenter questions and get immediate feedback is an incredible source of information.

When Studio 8 was released, Greg Rewis came out to Boston to show a packed room the new features of the suite. The reactions in the room were amazing. Everyone was astonished at what Macromedia achieved. Their relationship with their customer base is fantastic. I really hope they can port that knowlege over to Adobe.