Be more marketable.
Learn both.

quark isnt nessarily a waste of time, if you are trying to obtain as much knowledge as possible. However Indesign is far superior. ALSO learn Illustrator & Acrobat. ...and then there's the web applications...

Trying to keep the dead horse unbeaten by offering other aspects of the age old Q vs InD debate.

Either works. Quark just has a really bad reputation it may never recover from.

Some companies use Quark, some use InDesign. You limit yourself to being hired by one or the other if you only know one of the programs. If you work on contract as a freelancer you have to use whatever the hiring company uses. If you are a freelancer, one or the other will do. In which case I do recommend the full Creative Suite which does include Indesign only because I'm a cheap bastid who would rather get 6 programs for the price of one.

Quark is definitely not a waste. It is a comparable layout program to Adobe InDesign. And as long as companies continue to use it (and they do) as their layout program, graphic artists will need to learn to use Quark or disregard a significant client base (or potential employers).

Many of the companies I do contract work for, use Quark and have for a very long time. To abandon Quark for them, represents a major cost to change software and convert files that they have archived.

I personally use InDesign because it was bundled with Photoshop when I bought Adobe Creative Suite, so it was cheap for me to put on my computer. InDesign has some great features, but I do still love and use Quark as well. I find that having the ability to use both simply gives me alot of tools to be able to win clients. It doesn't have to be either/or, it can very good to learn both so that you can give your clients/employers the best skill set.

If you learn one (Quark or InDesign) you should be able to pick up the other very quickly. They're very similar. InDesign just works better and has a better reputation.

I agree with mac.FINN, once you learn one the other comes along very quickly. I started out using the first version of InDesign back in 1998, then learned Quark and now I am back into the latest and greatest InDesign. I wouldn't have made it where I am today if I didn't know them both.

Learn as much as you can and test them out. If you do one technique in ne prgram, try it in the other. Have fun with them.

Cheers!

I use Quark all day long. Learn both.

Actualy there is no reason to even have Quark, and why Quark is dying (not just because of the reputation, well that too), it mostly that the people who also use other software in the CS package, see that the creative suite has all the programs they need, and they get a layout program with it, (a good marketing stratagy for adobe), and well there are quite a few companies that have dropped Quark all together, and are switching. Quarks uses verses its cost doesnt justify it enough. In my opinion.

Its so expensive not to switch, even if it seems like its more for the whole CS package.

Adobe Web bundle:

Adobe Creative Suite Premium - combines full versions of:
Adobe Photoshop® CS2
Adobe Illustrator® CS2
Adobe InDesign® CS2
Adobe GoLive® CS2
Adobe Acrobat® 7.0 Professional
Version Cue® CS2
Adobe Bridge
Adobe Stock Photos

Macromedia Studio 8 - combines full versions of:
Dreamweaver® 8
Flash Professional 8
Fireworks® 8
Contribute™ 3
FlashPaper™ 2

$1,899 total, or $146.00 per program

Say your starting out. even though the CS package is more, each program is less. and you just creative suite?
(full version)
Adobe Photoshop® CS2
Adobe Illustrator® CS2
Adobe InDesign® CS2
Adobe GoLive® CS2
Adobe Acrobat® 7.0 Professional

for $1,199.00 or $239.80 each.

Or just stand alone Indesign for 146.00 / 239.80 or you can buy it seperately for $169.00

QuarkXpress 7 - Full version:
$749.00

This is where Indesign also beats Quark. Indesign for $169.00 or Quark for $750.00? This isnt rocket science. Lets not forget the ease of importing of other adobe software into each other. Quark has a coniption fit, and siezures.

BUT why not, learn quark, because indesign comes easy