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(From Signs Now Corporation) Digital printing industry leaders have formed the Graphic Communications Coalition for Open Competition to combat what they perceive as unfair treatment by Adobe Systems, Inc. Adobe Acrobat software is the industry standard for providing the digital files used for printing everything from restaurant menus to building-sized banners. A furor erupted in the digital printing industry over the direct “Send to FedEx/Kinko’s” button included in the latest incarnation of Acrobat software released in June.
The group, formed under the leadership the National Association for Printing Leadership (NAPL) and The National Association of Quick Printers (NAQP) is among more than two dozen printing industry associations and print partners that participated in a July 17 meeting with Adobe. They urged Adobe to rescind their deal with FedEx Kinko’s and restore the level playing field that previously existed. (Click here for a detailed report.)
“Although they have been remorseful about it, Adobe did not agree to unwind the deal with Kinko’s when we met with them,” reports Carl Gerhardt, President & CEO of Allegra Network, LLC, who attended the meeting. “They did agree to ‘reevaluate’ their position. We hope they will change their position so we can move forward to rebuild industry trust that has been fractured. If not, the Coalition is prepared to take additional action.”
“This simply underscores the importance of developing and fostering strong customer relationships and providing value added products and services that competitors like Kinko’s can’t match,” Gerhardt added. If you'd like add your voice to the dialog, you can tell Adobe what you think at Adobe's online Customer Comment Card.
-------------------- Ricky Jackson Signs Now 614 Russell Parkway Warner Robins, GA (478) 923-7722 signpimp50@hotmail.com
"If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants." Sir Issac Newton Posts: 3528 | From: Warner Robins, GA | Registered: Oct 2004
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Big software publishers are givingg less consideration for the customer all along. Most of it is under the guise of software protection programs. Many say online activations are just to protect their investment. However whenever we users do not complain loudly enuf to set some kind of limit they will creep to the next step.
This is just another step in the process. This is why many software guru's are screaming against the comming subscription based software model.
Can you imagine the cost we will pay for software and then see the huge discounts given to large companies as above. And then observe the huge marketing advantage take away our revenue streams.
-------------------- Leaper of Tall buildings.. If you find my posts divisive or otherwise snarky please ignore them. If you do not know how then PM me about it and I will demonstrate. Posts: 5274 | From: Im a nowhere man | Registered: Jul 2001
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Thanks for the links Ricky. By the way, I've had a grudge against Kinko's for the last 6 months. I took some printing there last winter and had to return to the store 3 times before the idiots got it right. The people they hire seem to be the graphic industry's rejects.
quote: This is just another step in the process. This is why many software guru's are screaming against the comming subscription based software model.
Can you imagine the cost we will pay for software and then see the huge discounts given to large companies as above. And then observe the huge marketing advantage take away our revenue streams.
Yeah, plus the fact that it is irritating that all these services are geared towards putting ads in our software. Not only will we have to subscribe, they'll have advertisers subscribing to get their names and links embedded in the programs. Geez, I'd like to be able to type a document in the future without having half my screen dedicated to ads as well as having them pop up whenever I type in a product name or word that happens to be one of their keywords.
I'm about sick of advertisement, and I think we're only seeing the tip of the ICBM that is about to come out and explode.
ARGGGGHHHHHH.........
-------------------- Jon Jantz Snappysign.com jjantz21@gmail.com http://www.allcw.com Posts: 3395 | From: Atmore, AL | Registered: Nov 2005
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Sorry Joey; I'll leave out some of it next time, just for you, LOL. How many thousands of sign shops are there? How many make Stinkos look like a Mickey Mouse operation? More than Stinkos franchises! How many of them will that P'off? All of them plus every other sign shop, including all the other franchises. WTF was Adopey thinking???? It's a good thing word about sites like **Bit Torrent** doesn't get out; you can download FREE ADOPEY SOFTWARE on there. I feel much better now; stickin' it to "tha man".
-------------------- Ricky Jackson Signs Now 614 Russell Parkway Warner Robins, GA (478) 923-7722 signpimp50@hotmail.com
"If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants." Sir Issac Newton Posts: 3528 | From: Warner Robins, GA | Registered: Oct 2004
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Its not the end of the world. I agree I would really hate it if they make it part of the program that I buy, but if Kinkos/Fed Ex. develops a third party plug-in that you can install with or after Acrobat more power to them.
It would not be too hard to write a script/Plug-in so anyone could do it. Print to "3rd Dimension Signs" creates the PDF and automatically emails it to me or your company. You basically already have that in Acrobat now.
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people feel betrayed because adopy is turning a very expensive nuetral software into a single soruce ad specific adware. Who the heck wants more adware, and tracking of usage, and other intrusive unknown invasions for your business and computer suystem.
Besides if Krinkles cannot handle what they have now how they goona handle it when a customer comes in to get his order,, and hears them say,, It isn't here you must have made an error (because the over worked low paid staff member deleted it so she could go home on time.).
-------------------- Leaper of Tall buildings.. If you find my posts divisive or otherwise snarky please ignore them. If you do not know how then PM me about it and I will demonstrate. Posts: 5274 | From: Im a nowhere man | Registered: Jul 2001
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quote:Damned capitalism. How dare any company try to make a buck
Glenn I don't think it's ethical for Adobe to make huge money by diverting customers away from the companies that use their products. It's the same thing as if you were leasing a building for a sign shop, and your landlord rented out the whole side wall for an advertisement for your competitor. Yeah, it'd be capitalism... but ethical and good for his renting business in the long run? I don't think so.
You can bet if they will not take the link out of the Acrobat software, there will be a LOT of printing, graphics and sign companies that quit using .PDF format for sending proofs. It will hurt them in the long run. I mean, it just doesn't make sense for me to send a proof of a banner or digital print that I know will have a button advertising THIS on it when my customer looks at it.
It just became more important to make sure your proofs are watermarked and completely unuseable.
-------------------- Jon Jantz Snappysign.com jjantz21@gmail.com http://www.allcw.com Posts: 3395 | From: Atmore, AL | Registered: Nov 2005
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wow.. now thats a real slap in da face. Thats worse than what every did with their instant signs..
Imagine, you just spent 10 hours with some dude designing his stuff,, send it to him and he clicks that link to get a price of half. BAD idea..
-------------------- Leaper of Tall buildings.. If you find my posts divisive or otherwise snarky please ignore them. If you do not know how then PM me about it and I will demonstrate. Posts: 5274 | From: Im a nowhere man | Registered: Jul 2001
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quote:Damned capitalism. How dare any company try to make a buck
Glenn I don't think it's ethical for Adobe to make huge money by diverting customers away from the companies that use their products. It's the same thing as if you were leasing a building for a sign shop, and your landlord rented out the whole side wall for an advertisement for your competitor. Yeah, it'd be capitalism... but ethical and good for his renting business in the long run? I don't think so.
You can bet if they will not take the link out of the Acrobat software, there will be a LOT of printing, graphics and sign companies that quit using .PDF format for sending proofs. It will hurt them in the long run. I mean, it just doesn't make sense for me to send a proof of a banner or digital print that I know will have a button advertising THIS on it when my customer looks at it.
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Jon,
Part of living in a free society is the right to do something stupid. What Adobe did was a calculated attempt to increase profits.
Is what they did ethical? Well, as long as you and everyone else has the option to use something else, of course it is. Its not like we're all forced to use PDFs. Its just another tool of convenience like so many others.
Lets take your analogy of a landlord allowing your competitor to put up his ad on the building you are currently renting. There is a small but important flaw. The Reader is free. You didn't pay for it. However, you are paying the landlord for the privilege of using his property to operate your business. If I were operating my business out of a "rent free" location, do I really have a right to complain?
What Adobe is doing isn't any different that what other companies have already done. Take Lycos/Tripod. For a time, I was using their "free" service to host my company's website (its an old site before the name change). Now, they are posting links to competitors unless I pay them not to. Its not like Tripod is my only option and neither is PDF or Adobe.
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Glenn, Maybe you misread.. Acrobate is not FREE. Its a very expensive software. Picture paying for a software then have my ad prominatly displayed in plain view directing your customers to me. How would you feel? OR, If I put my banner in your lobby telling your clients to call me..
-------------------- Leaper of Tall buildings.. If you find my posts divisive or otherwise snarky please ignore them. If you do not know how then PM me about it and I will demonstrate. Posts: 5274 | From: Im a nowhere man | Registered: Jul 2001
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quote:Originally posted by Glenn Taylor: Lets take your analogy of a landlord allowing your competitor to put up his ad on the building you are currently renting. There is a small but important flaw. The Reader is free. You didn't pay for it. However, you are paying the landlord...
hmmm... another possible flaw, if I read correctly, this crap is the full version of Acrobat as well as the free reader.
quote: July 23, 2007 -- On Tuesday, July 17th, Adobe hosted a “Print Advisory Forum” in San Francisco to “address concerns raised within the printing industry” over its deal with FedEx Kinko’s that places a “send to FedEx Kinko’s” button in every copy of Adobe Acrobat and Adobe Reader 8.1.
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And just how many people are required to use Acrobat? It seems to me that the animosity toward the Adobe/FedEx venture is an opportunity for some enterprising individuals to create a competitive product.
Don't get me wrong. I think what Adobe did was stupid. But as long as there are alternatives, more power to them. That is what fuels competition and ultimately forces companies to be more responsive to the needs and wants of its clients. Just as the creators of Firefox.
-------------------- Leaper of Tall buildings.. If you find my posts divisive or otherwise snarky please ignore them. If you do not know how then PM me about it and I will demonstrate. Posts: 5274 | From: Im a nowhere man | Registered: Jul 2001
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there is a great alternative to Adobe Reader. Foxit Reader is only 1.7 MB compared to the over 30 MB for Adobe's product.
-------------------- Leaper of Tall buildings.. If you find my posts divisive or otherwise snarky please ignore them. If you do not know how then PM me about it and I will demonstrate. Posts: 5274 | From: Im a nowhere man | Registered: Jul 2001
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quote:Originally posted by Curtis hammond: What alternatives? there are so many installed Adope readers out that it makes for a slim chance any one can avoid it..
I've sent my last PDF file,,, If just one customer went to that other place instead of me then that would be one too many.
Likewise. I've never liked PDF's anyway. Adobe's reader is the only program I can count on to freeze up.
Who is sending vector art as proofs anyway? Tsk tsk. I only send 72 dpi jpegs as proofs for a couple of reasons.
1) There is no reason to send vector art that may not be in its final state for the client to misuse.
2) Some people still may be using dial up and the proof I send is usually about 20 kb (even if they have high speed internet why take up so much more space?).
I don't think it's unethical, but it is a deterrent to me using it now. I have been sending invoices as PDFs, but I can find a better way.
I'll probably start using Foxit for opening PDFs sent to me since it sounds alot less bloated than the Adobe reader. Maybe I'll actually be able to close a PDF without having to reboot. I doubt I can get any client to change from Adobe reader(and I wouldn't try), so I just won't send them anything to promote their use of it.
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Yipeeeeee, we won!!!! Thanks for the heads up Steve!!
-------------------- Ricky Jackson Signs Now 614 Russell Parkway Warner Robins, GA (478) 923-7722 signpimp50@hotmail.com
"If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants." Sir Issac Newton Posts: 3528 | From: Warner Robins, GA | Registered: Oct 2004
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