Down the street from the University where I teach is a small pizza place called Pizza Queen Aside from their ridiculous name they are also dumb. This sign shown to the left hangs prominently for display above the register. I guess according to this sign paying by check means things are regular price???

Oh and i checked around, it’s against merchant policy for them to do this. So if Amex, Visa, or MasterCard are reading this, feel free to take away their credit card processing machine. Just make sure to cite stupidity for the main reason for the repo.

No matter how many people point out that the sign makes no sense it still remains up. I guess they invested too much money and time creating the sign, to take it down now.

Does Adobe release versions of their software too often?

It’s hard to answer this question and in some cases it may not even seem worth a post. My concern is the extremely high cost of software and the inability for freelancers and small firms to stay up to date. It may just be “Darwinism” at work where the stronger design/ad firms will prosper because they have the client base to fund the best computers and software but where does this leave the little guy?

Adobe CS4 is rumored to release in October which is just around the corner and only 18 months after CS3 was released in April 2007.  The cost of a the web suite will be over $2,000 and in most cases that’s more then the computer it’ll be running on.  This means that everytime a small firm wants to add an employee not only are they paying for salary and benefits but they have to pay close to $5,000 if not more just to get them started.  This can make it very hard for a small company to expand and grow not to mention an aspiring designer.

I am a Professor at Johnson & Wales University and one of the biggest problems my students face is the inibility to work on their projects from their dorm or home.  They can’t afford the cost of a Creative Suite along with tuition and other expenses.  This leaves them with two options, one they only work in the school lab or two they download an illegal version.  Student copies are available but at about half the cost but Adobe doesn’t allow you to publish the work.  We all know that an aspiring designer or developer needs to spend every waking minute perfecting their talent.  As it is I’m up to about 2am most nights working on deisgns, writing code or improving my techniques.  The second option of downloading an illegal version is done much more frequently then I would like to think.  I absolutely do not endorse the downloading of illegal copies of Adobe Software but some of these students are left with no choice.

There is a balance that can’t be reached between the rising costs of Adobe Software and the increased downloading of illegal copies.  Adobe will continue to increase the cost of their software to counter the loss of sales through distribution of illegal software and downloads will continue to increase because individuals are not able to afford the rising cost of Adobe Software.

On top of the current problems Adobe may be releasing versions of their software too frequently.  Adobe may be intentially leaving features out for future versions and increased sales.  Most firms and web/design professionals will want to purchase the latest version of Adobe to ensure their ability to stay “on top” of new technology.  I think Adobe should spend more time perfecting their security features to prevent further downloading of illegal copies and offer some free feature updates.  Loyal customers who have spent thousands of dollars on Adobe software definitely deserve some free upgrades to their software and shouldn’t have to continue to spend a great deal of money every 18 months.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Microsoft’s Mojave Experiment can be seen on youtube and is being advertised on several sites across the internet.  Microsoft essentially puts people in a room and asks them how they feel about vista (even though they have never tried it) and then shows them a new OS called Mojave.  Every one of the subjects had nothing but negative things to say about Vista, again, their feelings are generated by colleagues, friends and families experiences not their own. Soon the new OS, Mojave is unveiled to glowing testimonials.  Every one seems to be genuinely excited to try Mojave and if you can’t see where this is going, they love it.  Here’s the kicker Mojave is Vista just re-branded with a new name and logo. I think advertising this experiment is a great way for Microsoft to make attempts to reverse people’s feelings about Vista.  By people I mean anyone who won’t buy it because they think it’s terrible but haven’t even tried it yet.

Aside from my feelings on Vista (I can’t stand it and it’s been nothing but trouble for me). I do believe that this is a great marketing strategy.  Microsoft has acknowledged a poor following of Vista and found a great way to try and change people’s minds.  They made a very bold move by marketing a piece that discusses the negative connotations of Vista. I really believe it took “guts” for Microsoft to stand up admit that Vista has a poor following.  Branding “See For Yourself, Decide For Yourself”, hits the nail right on the head.  The only chance that Microsoft has to try and gain a better following is to convince people who haven’t purchased it to do so and the only way that is going to happen is for those people to ignore every bad thing they’ve heard about Vista.  In the end no matter how good your marketing strategies are if you are selling a product that people don’t like, don’t want, or that doesn’t work the end result will inevitably be failure.