So, what just arrived at my door but an upgrade for the Adobe “Creative Suite.” This software bundle includes Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, GoLive and Acrobat.
But guess what? No friggin’ documentation. PDFs on the disc apparently. Just exactly how should one go about using complicated and intricate and advanced software without a reference manual? Oh, go buy the Adobe books for $35 each? No thanks, for a $1,200 product I want printed manuals in the box.
I’m sending it back un-opened. RMA requested.
[Thursday Nov 6] Update: It appears that the individual upgrades ship with manuals. Since all I really need is the InDesign upgrade, I’ll order that after I get credit for the whole suite. This represents $580 in lost revenue to Adobe, and even though I can afford it, why bother if they’re going to treat their customers that way. Instead of buying the whole suite “just because” I’ll buy what what I need when I need it.
Also, this means that I can continue to upgrade individual components. With the suite, the upgrade policy is that you can only upgrade the whole suite, not, say, Photoshop alone. I’m not sure what the advantages of the suite are, exactly. The price break wasn’t that much, the upgrade rights are restricted, and you don’t get printed manuals. I should have investigated in more depth before ordering. Of course, the box contents are not listed on the website, so I wouldn’t have known about the manuals anyway.
November 5, 2003