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A few days ago, I wrote a blog that I called “Has Adobe Lost Its Mind?” I was—and remain—disturbed at what I see as being priced out of the market for Adobe’s product line. I (finally) obtained the name and contact information for a senior member of the Adobe product development team, Mr. Michael Hu, and contacted him, asking for a response. Mr. Hu has been gracious with his response to my blog and I feel it important to present both sides of the issue.

On November 8, I sent this e-mail to Mr. Hu:

To: Michael Hu
Subject: An Open Letter to or about Adobe

Mr. Hu,

I understand that you are involved with the production and distribution of FrameMaker with Adobe. I don't mean to pick you out; yours is the only individual e-mail address I've been able to identify. It's my hope that you are able to bring my blog entry regarding Adobe and its pricing model to the attention of those at Adobe who may be able to answer me or our membership.

Hopefully, this doesn't include the legal staff at Adobe. After all, I didn't write this as a representative or STC or the James River Chapter. These are my own thoughts and feelings. I have tried to contact Adobe about its pricing but no one seems to wish to answer or defend it. Being ignored is the thing, it seems.
Anyway, thank you for your time and patience.
Sincerely,

Don White

The Conversation Opens

Mr. Hu responded on November 11^th:

Sent: Friday, November 09, 2007 11:52 AM
To: Donald White

Subject: RE: An Open Letter to or about Adobe

Hi Donald,

Adobe sets its pricing according to the needs and dynamics of the market. In this context, the market is the aggregate of hundreds of thousands of individual purchase decisions. Only the individual themselves can make up their own mind on the cost-benefit of buying an upgrade.  We provide a lot of information that individuals can use to inform themselves when making a decision, in ways such as posting content on the Adobe web site, conducting eSeminars, presenting at conferences and making trial downloads available. Through our research the overwhelming majority of our customers will decide the benefit of upgrading or buying new licenses justifies the price, but we recognize that some will not, or decide that other products fit their needs better. From a “market” perspective we think we have correctly balanced the price of FrameMaker and the Technical Communication Suite, given the significant value most customers will find in buying or upgrading those products.

By the way, please note that it would be more appropriate to look at the price of upgrading the Creative Suite from a single point product/application (e.g. Photoshop), when comparing with the price to upgrade to the Technical Communication Suite from, say, FrameMaker.  Your comparison shows upgrade pricing from a previous version of Creative Suite to a new version of Creative Suite.  When it is time to release the next version of the Technical Communication Suite, we will likely follow the existing Creative Suite model where there is different pricing when upgrading from a point product versus upgrading from an earlier version of the Suite. We didn’t introduce “Suite-specific” upgrade pricing of Technical Communication Suite 1.0 because it was the first version (no prior version of the Technical Communication Suite to upgrade from).

Also note that Acrobat 3D is a superset of Acrobat Professional – you get everything in Acrobat Professional, plus the extra benefit of the 3D Toolkit. Also, the Technical Communication Suite includes more than just the four point products. It also contains special integration between the products, representing a unique benefit over purchasing the products individually.

Thanks,
-MH

Why One Should Get a Life…Instead

One good e-mail merits another. Or, perhaps I thought I still had a case to make… In any case, I replied on November 10:

Sent: Saturday, November 10, 2007 9:48 AM
To: Michael Hu
Subject: RE: An Open Letter to or about Adobe

Michael,

Thanks very much for your note. I work with or contribute collegially with many professionals in this field, and we're almost uniform in our opinion that we've been ignored and priced out of the market for Adobe products. I wish it weren't so, but there it is. Most of us are independent contractors, whether we've set up our own companies or not. And, while we recognize the tax implications of purchasing licenses for tools we use professionally, that doesn't lessen the impact of purchasing a license for a new or upgraded product at the point of sale. In fact, that's why many of us feel we can no longer afford such a purchase.

My guess is that Adobe is doing a strong enough business to overlook our needs or the company would pay some attention to us.

And, I understand the differences between Adobe Acrobat Professional and Acrobat 3D. It's just that I (and no other technical communicator with whom I've corresponded) see a need to use the 3D version. Again, I acknowledge the probability that large enterprises, with marketing and technical communication as well as product development departments, find the increased tool set useful.

Whether for good or not, independent contractors purchase licenses for those tools they need, or for which they anticipate a need, given their experience within their own markets. For instance, in central Virginia, I'm happily shocked when I obtain a contract to produce large technical or marketing documents in FrameMaker instead of MS Word. Note that I didn't include structured FrameMaker documents here; XML and structured documentation are much more in demand in the Research Triangle Park area of North Carolina than in my region, between Norfolk VA and Washington DC. I cannot remember the first time I've been involved with AutoCAD or AutoCAD illustrations, either.

So, if Adobe marketed its products, individually or in suites (bundles) for two distinct types of customers, enterprises and individual practitioners, pricing might become more affordable to us. Until then, most of us will continue to work with older, and not-supported, versions of Photoshop, Illustrator, FrameMaker, and so forth.

This same reason guides my decision to have nothing to do with Web Works Publisher, too. So, I'm not picking on Adobe.

At least, until open-source alternatives appear. Already, many of produce documents with Open Office and deliver them to clients who want MS Word files.

If you give me permission, I'll quote your e-mail response entirely; I will not cut and paste bits or pieces or to make you or Adobe appear badly. That's not my goal.

Again, thanks very much for your note.

Sincerely,

Don White

Next

Mr. Hu responded yesterday, November 13:

Sent: Tuesday, November 13, 2007 12:21 PM
To: Donald White
Subject: RE: An Open Letter to or about Adobe

Hi Don,

Do you and your colleagues feel that you are priced out with other products from major software vendors? I wasn’t sure if you are aware but we have we have an aggressive $599 price point for education customers for the new Suite. I’m scratching my head a bit trying to figure out why the pricing is not competitive for the independent contractor. According to our research it is competitive for most technical writers. $999 for the upgrade vs $3592 if you purchased the full versions separately.

You aren’t paying a premium by having Acrobat 3D in the Suite. You might not need it now but you may need it for your next job. We realize that Acro3D is not used by all of our customers but it is used by a good number of customers in some industries. Recent press coverage on the new Suite.

“A Look at Adobe Technical Communications Suite”

This new software package will help you supercharge your CAD/BIM technical documentation.

Nov. 1, 2007
By: Scott Mackenzie
Publication: Cadalyst

(Read the entire article )

“Conclusion

I like this product suite and would like others in the AEC industry to know about it. In my opinion, it is a must-have for any CAD manager in a sizable AEC firm who is interested in creating high-quality technical documentation.”

Please feel free to post my response and I really appreciate you taking your concerns directly to me and providing me an opportunity to respond.

Thanks,

-MH

Fini

I guess that this is where this conversation ends. I had no illusion that my comments would result in a “sea-change” in Adobe’s pricing structure, resulting in significant discounts for independent contractors. Frankly, I’m just exasperated by the exponentially-rising costs of these products.

If you have any comments about the original blog or the exchange quoted here, send them to our newsletter Editor, This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , for inclusion in The Watershed.

Note: Okay, I slipped into the realm of techno-business jargon and used the dreaded phrase, sea-change. I should know better: I'm a former sailor and I never heard or used that term while afloat or submerged on any warship or submarine.