Adobe buys out Macromedia for $3.4bn

[Bear]

Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq: ADBE) has announced a definitive
agreement to acquire Macromedia (Nasdaq: MACR) in an all-stock
transaction valued at approximately $3.4 billion.

Adobe link:
www.adobe.com/aboutadobe/invrelations/adobeandmacromedia.html

Macromedia link:
macromedia.com/macromedia/proom/pr/2005/adobe_macromedia.html

Well it could have been worse.... could have been Microsoft....

<http://www.adobe.com/aboutadobe/invrelations/adobeandmacromedia.html>

C*** Designer

[beanz]

Amen to that!



http://dabeanz.deviantart.com

[Patrick Shannon]

Holy crap, that's big news.

That does eliminate some competition however, not a good thing....on the other hand, didn't Adobe sue Macromedia for their user interface in the old version of Flash? I liked the old interface, perhaps Adobe could improve the interface once again.

Patrick Shannon

'Dear valued customer, go home and die. Signed, your friendly graphic artist.'


My War With Culture
Political incorrectness reinvented.

[mattborghi]

Gosh, that's big news. It could be really good, but it could also be bad. I, generally, use my Adobe Tools for Print, and Macromedia stuff for the web... Never been much of a Freehander, or a Go Liver. I've always kind of thought that Adobe didn't have a real good handle on Web software, and likewise, my experience with Macromedia stuff in print always came plagued with various postscript and workflow errors. So I guess it could be good, and I would rather it be Adobe than Microsoft, however, I also liked it better as a two separate entities. In a lot of ways, Macromedia seemed to be slipping or at least just trying to keep up with Adobe, so it will be good for them to be out of their shadow, heck, probably out of the marketplace altogether. It would be nice to see some hybrid activity, perhaps a hybrid of Illy and Freehand, and a hybrid of Go Live, Dreamweaver, Fireworks, and Flash... be kind of nice to see Imageready go away, and see Fireworks take its place, but without direct competition, conceptually, Adobe could stagnate.... We'll see how it goes.....
Just one user's $.02...

matt

[Tyger]

wow! 'nough said.

GDF Contributor
You Create Your Reality
Visit My Blog: Tyger's Den

[idaho]

This sucks! If you're a Freehand user like I am, you'd better pick up the latest version while you stilll can. My guess is Adobe will pull it from the market as soon as they can. I 'm not worried about the other Macromedia products but I'm certain Freehand is gone.

Did anyone also notice that Adobe raised their price on the creative suite upgrade about the same time the purchase of Macromedia was announced?

-Idaho
'You want it when? Ok, no problem. Excuse me while I pull the magic wand out of my ass!'

[3howards]

yeah, with no more 'real' competition, they'll be able to set prices as they wish.

Underclings

[casedsgn]

Things could get pricey from here on out.... who's left to provide an alternative? Corel? No way. The software and solutions could take a big leap by combining the best of both worlds,... but as mattborghi said, this could also cause a reverse effect .. or as I like to call it .. the 'Quark' effect. Let's hope for the best and cross our fingers that the prices of the future versions don't skyrocket.

can you imagine the 2006 release of Adobe CS : Photoshop, Illustrator, Flash, inDesign, Acrobat, Dreamweaver (i hope), Fireworks (i hope). That's quite a package!

[Keyare]

"Customers are calling for integrated software solutions that enable them to create, manage and deliver a wide range of compelling content and applications -- from documents and images to audio and video," said Bruce Chizen, chief executive officer of Adobe.

Adobe seems mostly interested in Macromedia's Flash technology.

I've seen a few demonstrations of the coming Macromedia's Flash 8. It has some amazing advances. It will support alpha channels so you can overlay video's with transparency over flash elements and effects. At the heart of this is a new codec from a little-known company named ON2, which, just happens to have the best video codec in the world that handily beats any other codec, including Windows Media 9, H.264, and Mpeg2, for size and clarity over IP.

Combined with with Microsoft's 4 announcements today regarding Windows Media 9, I think the race to control video and content on desktops, handhelds and cellphones just got a new (big) competitor. Adobe, who has already won hands down in the document category, has entered the ring.

They already have a strong background in the video production area, with Premier and after effects etc, but no packaged, consumer-friendly way to get that content from development onto the world's websites and cellphones. So they're buying one.






Post Edited (Keyare) : 4/18/2005 4:37:28 PM GMT

[D-Frag]

Yeah, this is only scary in the fact that in 2010 everything on the earth will be owned by 3 companies. Starbucks, Adobe, and Clear Channel. Prepare for the apocalypse



*CAUTION* Do not attempt to view while under the influence of drugs or alcohol

digitalcamwhore

wanna know more about me? upcoming shows, pics...etc