What in the world is wrong with Adobe?
I just don't know how to start this post - I don't think I want to go off on a rage again, but I have to wonder sometimes if anyone human is actually making decisions at Adobe.
The concept of a single document reader is a good one, and they've jammed this down our throat for years - I remember the first time I ever purchased an $8k software package, only to find the book missing, and replaced with CD-ROM with a PDF - at the time I was very pissed - after all, I'd just purchased one of the first Intrusion Detection Systems available - RealSecure, and it was some next level cool stuff during it's time - but I was infuriated with the idea that they could pocket more of that money and take up more of my screen real estate.
Back then, downloading and installing Adobe's reader wasn't a major painful installation - sure, it was an 8mb download, but nobody cared. Nowadays, most people don't even balk at the idea of downloading a 35mb program and installing - there's larger toolbars these days. But what really gets me is the tendency towards these installer packages - sure, okay, I can understand using Microsoft's special downloader when I'm pulling down an ISO, or perhaps using a special installer for some larger things that need updating like Google Earth, but hey, when Adobe's stupid Acrobat reader his 40+mb, and I have to download an installer - yeah, I get a little annoyed. What makes things more annoying is when I go and do something else, with that dog running in the background, and when I return 5 minutes later, it's not even half way done downloading!
I mean, wait a second - I'm paying for 20mb downloads here - and Adobe's stuff is perhaps one of the most downloaded programs on the Internet - so why does it take so long? I mean, Comcast buffers this stuff, but not if their custom downloader is messing with it, but taking more than 5-10 minutes to read a single 2 page PDF is getting excessive.
During my impatience, I explored Adobe's site to see if there was a way to download direct, and then I saw the death bell for Adobe Acrobat Reader - version 9.3 now REQUIRES Adobe Air. For those of you who are less educated about things, Adobe Air is the essential equivalent to Microsoft's Silverlight, and Adobe Flash (formerly known as Macromedia Flash, but I digress.)
Faced with installing Adobe Air on my little Acer Aspire Revo, which is a cool, albeit weak PC, I was disgusted. I'd run Adobe Air before on a Dell D630 Dual-Core laptop with 4gb of ram - and it performed poorly on that system. Very poorly. Poor enough that I aborted the Adobe install completely. My little Intel Atom couldn't take it. If I didn't have the full version of Acrobat on my PC at work, I wouldn't run Adobe's software at all now!
I liken Adobe Air to being more like a nasty fart. I have to wonder why they came up with Air as they already own Flash, but the I've realized that they might "own" Flash, but the fact is, it's grown beyond them and they don't make the money off it like they can if folks want to make Adobe Air apps. At least folks can write and publish Flash code without paying Adobe anything - however, Air being their own proprietary format, pretty much precludes third-party development tools, at least for a while, boosting their tenable bottom line, while leaving the entire room smelling like a flatulent donkey.
Disgusted and still not able to read my 2 page PDF, I decided to see what free alternatives are out there, and yes, I found some - and so I downloaded the Foxit PDF reader, and installed it, and opened my PDF, all within 2 minutes of my Google search. Funny thing is, even after killing the install when it wasn't complete, there were icons on my desktop - who do these bastards think they are? When did leaving icon's strewn all over people's desktops become acceptable software behavior? Does a Microsoft's Help utility need to have an icon on my desktop? No. Does anyone launch the Adobe reader, then use it to find their files? I seriously think not! My parents would find it in Windows then open it - and that's how I've always done it. That's probably how you do it too - that or you click on the link and want it to launch - but cluttering up my desktop, well, that's rude - and it's something I've come to expect with those scumbags. Excess icons on my desktop are akin to someone sending me a gift, and boxing it with 10,000 packing peanuts that explode out of the package when you open it.
It's regrettable that Adobe has deteriorated so far that they have to trick people to distribute their schlocky, unnecessary new "platforms" by stitching them to their own "document standards" that they've been pushing down peoples throats for over a decade now. I have to say this - folks, remember these three letters:
O D F
Open Document Format. It's the future. It's not quite mature yet - but I'll be watching. And if you own any stock in Adobe, well, I'd recommend to watch carefully - their only worthy product is Dreamweaver... what, that's from Macromedia too....
And one last little note to take in - in the time it took me to write this, plus the time it took me to patch my Windows 7 Ultimate and reboot, you could not download Adobe Acrobat 9.3. For some reason, I can download 40mb in seconds - but not Adobe Acrobat. They must think that having their bloated slugware installer on my desktop for 15+ minutes is some kind of free advertising. Man, are they stupid!
The concept of a single document reader is a good one, and they've jammed this down our throat for years - I remember the first time I ever purchased an $8k software package, only to find the book missing, and replaced with CD-ROM with a PDF - at the time I was very pissed - after all, I'd just purchased one of the first Intrusion Detection Systems available - RealSecure, and it was some next level cool stuff during it's time - but I was infuriated with the idea that they could pocket more of that money and take up more of my screen real estate.
Back then, downloading and installing Adobe's reader wasn't a major painful installation - sure, it was an 8mb download, but nobody cared. Nowadays, most people don't even balk at the idea of downloading a 35mb program and installing - there's larger toolbars these days. But what really gets me is the tendency towards these installer packages - sure, okay, I can understand using Microsoft's special downloader when I'm pulling down an ISO, or perhaps using a special installer for some larger things that need updating like Google Earth, but hey, when Adobe's stupid Acrobat reader his 40+mb, and I have to download an installer - yeah, I get a little annoyed. What makes things more annoying is when I go and do something else, with that dog running in the background, and when I return 5 minutes later, it's not even half way done downloading!
I mean, wait a second - I'm paying for 20mb downloads here - and Adobe's stuff is perhaps one of the most downloaded programs on the Internet - so why does it take so long? I mean, Comcast buffers this stuff, but not if their custom downloader is messing with it, but taking more than 5-10 minutes to read a single 2 page PDF is getting excessive.
During my impatience, I explored Adobe's site to see if there was a way to download direct, and then I saw the death bell for Adobe Acrobat Reader - version 9.3 now REQUIRES Adobe Air. For those of you who are less educated about things, Adobe Air is the essential equivalent to Microsoft's Silverlight, and Adobe Flash (formerly known as Macromedia Flash, but I digress.)
Faced with installing Adobe Air on my little Acer Aspire Revo, which is a cool, albeit weak PC, I was disgusted. I'd run Adobe Air before on a Dell D630 Dual-Core laptop with 4gb of ram - and it performed poorly on that system. Very poorly. Poor enough that I aborted the Adobe install completely. My little Intel Atom couldn't take it. If I didn't have the full version of Acrobat on my PC at work, I wouldn't run Adobe's software at all now!
I liken Adobe Air to being more like a nasty fart. I have to wonder why they came up with Air as they already own Flash, but the I've realized that they might "own" Flash, but the fact is, it's grown beyond them and they don't make the money off it like they can if folks want to make Adobe Air apps. At least folks can write and publish Flash code without paying Adobe anything - however, Air being their own proprietary format, pretty much precludes third-party development tools, at least for a while, boosting their tenable bottom line, while leaving the entire room smelling like a flatulent donkey.
Disgusted and still not able to read my 2 page PDF, I decided to see what free alternatives are out there, and yes, I found some - and so I downloaded the Foxit PDF reader, and installed it, and opened my PDF, all within 2 minutes of my Google search. Funny thing is, even after killing the install when it wasn't complete, there were icons on my desktop - who do these bastards think they are? When did leaving icon's strewn all over people's desktops become acceptable software behavior? Does a Microsoft's Help utility need to have an icon on my desktop? No. Does anyone launch the Adobe reader, then use it to find their files? I seriously think not! My parents would find it in Windows then open it - and that's how I've always done it. That's probably how you do it too - that or you click on the link and want it to launch - but cluttering up my desktop, well, that's rude - and it's something I've come to expect with those scumbags. Excess icons on my desktop are akin to someone sending me a gift, and boxing it with 10,000 packing peanuts that explode out of the package when you open it.
It's regrettable that Adobe has deteriorated so far that they have to trick people to distribute their schlocky, unnecessary new "platforms" by stitching them to their own "document standards" that they've been pushing down peoples throats for over a decade now. I have to say this - folks, remember these three letters:
O D F
Open Document Format. It's the future. It's not quite mature yet - but I'll be watching. And if you own any stock in Adobe, well, I'd recommend to watch carefully - their only worthy product is Dreamweaver... what, that's from Macromedia too....
And one last little note to take in - in the time it took me to write this, plus the time it took me to patch my Windows 7 Ultimate and reboot, you could not download Adobe Acrobat 9.3. For some reason, I can download 40mb in seconds - but not Adobe Acrobat. They must think that having their bloated slugware installer on my desktop for 15+ minutes is some kind of free advertising. Man, are they stupid!
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