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Just because you don't hear them breathing, don't think for a moment that Adobe isn't lurking in the discussion room. They do listen...I can personally attest to that. Certain changes to the behavior of Acrobat 4.05 were a direct result of customer feedback, public outcry and professional criticism. People who speak up, or out, help cause change, improvements and progress. Rich -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Lauterbach.Mark Sent: Friday, March 26, 2004 6:38 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: RE: [PDF-Forms] Filling out & saving a PDF form using Reader PDF-Forms is a service provided by PDFzone.com | http://www.pdfzone.com/ __________________________________________________________________ The following rant is not aimed at any specific person in this discussion: <rant> It is sometimes a bit tiring to hear the whining about those enterprise products. I mean, enterprises will buy and use them, but not individuals. Or would you as an individual buy a bus to do your commute? Do you whine about the "ridiculously high price" of a bus? See what I mean. </rant> As one of the main "whiners" on this topic, I guess I should weigh in on this. <myRant> If we want to travel on the PDF superhighway, the Adobe bus is the only one allowed on the road, isn't it? I believe Adobe is offering a free "bus" - but it has no engine or, more to the point, no seats for the passengers. These "enhancements" to the bus will cost - and cost big. And yes, I think commuters would whine about the ridiculously high price of busses when this cost is reflected in the expected fare. Now the bus without an engine (or seats) is still a bus, and we can all climb on, listen to the radio, play with the lights and honk the horn. But to use the bus as a bus, (or to use a "portable document" as a portable document) requires buying in to a monopoly pricing structure that is only possible because of the EULA that comes with the "free" bus. </myRant> On the other hand, I agree that these kinds comments and discussions do nothing of value, really (except maybe to let off some steam). I doubt anything said here will change Adobe's mind and at the end of the day I tend to think "Don't hate the player, hate the game". Adobe's primary function is not to make us happy, it's to run a corporation that will make its shareholders happy. Cest la vie. I strongly believe that open source / shareware solution options will change things, but so far none have really stood out as a true alternative. Time will tell. One final point I would like to make on this is that many people seem to think that these "enterprise" products are priced to target large governments. Regardless of what Adobe might think about this, I think it's a crazy notion. Just because a major organization has access to larger amounts of capital doesn't mean it's justified to charge the maximum possible amount for something. Governments are funded by tax dollars, so it boils down to many Joe Taxpayer "individuals" picking up the tab. I'm glad to see that this group has discussed these matters openly, however. I've benefited immensely from technical help I've acquired through this list, but there has also been value (IMHO) in discussing the more "political" elements of this technology. Thanks again to everyone on the list for assisting in providing this great resource. Mark To change your subscription: http://www.pdfzone.com/discussions/lists-pdfforms.html To change your subscription: http://www.pdfzone.com/discussions/lists-pdfforms.html
