Comments on: Open letter to Adobe http://www.aquick.org/blog/2005/06/20/open-letter-to-adobe/ entertaining hundreds of millions of eyeball atoms every day Sun, 12 Aug 2012 17:06:22 -0400 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Peter da SIlva http://www.aquick.org/blog/2005/06/20/open-letter-to-adobe/comment-page-1/#comment-376 Peter da SIlva Thu, 23 Jun 2005 11:41:50 +0000 /?p=824#comment-376 Almost 25 years ago I found myself huddled in a corner of a computer lab at the University of Houston with one of the local pirate software geeks getting a pirated copy of the game "Wizardry" copied over the legal version on my original floppy, because the copy protection on the diskette was so aggressive that after saving a game on a slightly mistimed floppy drive, once, it would only ever allow me to play the game using that same drive... and of course a drive whose timing has started to drift is not long for this world. Wizardry was the last copy-protected game I bought. But, of course, that was no big deal, it was only a game. Copy protection, of course, is a form of digital rights management, so one bad experience has immunized me to the appeal of DRMed software. More recently, I've had to email Apple and get them to clear all my authorized computers from their database at the iTunes Music Store because a flakey hard drive and a series of system reinstalls had caused me to exceed my maximum allowed authorizations. I've since made sure I've backup copies of my music on audio CDs without DRM. No big deal, as long as I can do that. But I'm going to make sure that any DRMed content I buy in the future has a backdoor like that. I refused to upgrade to Windows XP, because an operating system with DRM in its heart scares me, and it was the prospect of having to do so that finally got me to pay the "Mac Tax" and buy a Macintosh instead of dual-booting between FreeBSD and Windows... and I guess I should thank Microsoft for giving me the necessary nudge to make the switch. The rumors I've heard about Apple using DRM to keep people from running Mac OS X for Intel on generic clones bother me: if the alternatives are a DRMed operating system from Microsoft or a DRMed operating system from Apple or giving up on popular commercial software completely, I guess I'll ride the Power PC bus until the wheels fall off and see if the world's come to its senses five years or so down the road. Almost 25 years ago I found myself huddled in a corner of a computer lab at the University of Houston with one of the local pirate software geeks getting a pirated copy of the game “Wizardry” copied over the legal version on my original floppy, because the copy protection on the diskette was so aggressive that after saving a game on a slightly mistimed floppy drive, once, it would only ever allow me to play the game using that same drive… and of course a drive whose timing has started to drift is not long for this world.

Wizardry was the last copy-protected game I bought. But, of course, that was no big deal, it was only a game. Copy protection, of course, is a form of digital rights management, so one bad experience has immunized me to the appeal of DRMed software.

More recently, I’ve had to email Apple and get them to clear all my authorized computers from their database at the iTunes Music Store because a flakey hard drive and a series of system reinstalls had caused me to exceed my maximum allowed authorizations.

I’ve since made sure I’ve backup copies of my music on audio CDs without DRM. No big deal, as long as I can do that. But I’m going to make sure that any DRMed content I buy in the future has a backdoor like that.

I refused to upgrade to Windows XP, because an operating system with DRM in its heart scares me, and it was the prospect of having to do so that finally got me to pay the “Mac Tax” and buy a Macintosh instead of dual-booting between FreeBSD and Windows… and I guess I should thank Microsoft for giving me the necessary nudge to make the switch.

The rumors I’ve heard about Apple using DRM to keep people from running Mac OS X for Intel on generic clones bother me: if the alternatives are a DRMed operating system from Microsoft or a DRMed operating system from Apple or giving up on popular commercial software completely, I guess I’ll ride the Power PC bus until the wheels fall off and see if the world’s come to its senses five years or so down the road.

]]> By: stealth http://www.aquick.org/blog/2005/06/20/open-letter-to-adobe/comment-page-1/#comment-375 stealth Wed, 22 Jun 2005 17:18:32 +0000 /?p=824#comment-375 my hat is off to adobe, their authorization process is very effective. it took me much longer to crack ps cs than previous versions. my hat is off to adobe, their authorization process is very effective. it took me much longer to crack ps cs than previous versions.

]]> By: adam http://www.aquick.org/blog/2005/06/20/open-letter-to-adobe/comment-page-1/#comment-374 adam Tue, 21 Jun 2005 12:07:13 +0000 /?p=824#comment-374 I support free software in MANY cases, but in this case, there are two important reasons why GIMP won't cut it. 1) For real photo editing, GIMP just can't hold a candle to Photoshop. I've tried it, and it's just not that powerful. Adobe actually has spent a lot of time perfecting their interface and making their tools useful, and I don't mind paying for that. 2) It's not just Photoshop - we're talking about the entire CS Suite. I use InDesign a lot for print publishing, and it's miles ahead of even their closest commercial competitor. There's NOTHING like it in free software. Same goes for the full version of Acrobat. As I said, I really really like the Adobe tools, which I think is why they should avoid making me feel like they don't appreciate it. If I'm one of their supporters, and they're turning me off, I can't imagine that people who are less dedicated are going to stick around at all. I support free software in MANY cases, but in this case, there are two important reasons why GIMP won’t cut it.

1) For real photo editing, GIMP just can’t hold a candle to Photoshop. I’ve tried it, and it’s just not that powerful. Adobe actually has spent a lot of time perfecting their interface and making their tools useful, and I don’t mind paying for that.

2) It’s not just Photoshop – we’re talking about the entire CS Suite. I use InDesign a lot for print publishing, and it’s miles ahead of even their closest commercial competitor. There’s NOTHING like it in free software. Same goes for the full version of Acrobat.

As I said, I really really like the Adobe tools, which I think is why they should avoid making me feel like they don’t appreciate it. If I’m one of their supporters, and they’re turning me off, I can’t imagine that people who are less dedicated are going to stick around at all.

]]> By: albert http://www.aquick.org/blog/2005/06/20/open-letter-to-adobe/comment-page-1/#comment-373 albert Tue, 21 Jun 2005 09:21:03 +0000 /?p=824#comment-373 Shame to Adobe. Same goes to Norton. I've been using its antivirus suite for ages and this christmas I decided to move away when I was asked to call them to activate it after 2 installs. The second install was because it made ages I hadn't formatted and after a harddisk failure, I wasn't able to reinstall again... Should I ask the harddisk manufacturer to activate it for me? This kind of protection is really silly. You should try GIMP. Don't even use adobe. I think the previous comments suggesting piracy are not the way to go. Use FREE software. Shame to Adobe. Same goes to Norton. I’ve been using its antivirus suite for ages and this christmas I decided to move away when I was asked to call them to activate it after 2 installs. The second install was because it made ages I hadn’t formatted and after a harddisk failure, I wasn’t able to reinstall again… Should I ask the harddisk manufacturer to activate it for me? This kind of protection is really silly. You should try GIMP. Don’t even use adobe. I think the previous comments suggesting piracy are not the way to go. Use FREE software.

]]> By: ElCapitanAmerica http://www.aquick.org/blog/2005/06/20/open-letter-to-adobe/comment-page-1/#comment-372 ElCapitanAmerica Tue, 21 Jun 2005 03:50:11 +0000 /?p=824#comment-372 Ironic. If you get one of the many illegal copies of the product out there in the web, you'll have a better user experience (no activation). If you buy the product, they're making it difficult for you to install it! In a way Adobe is making the case for piracy! Ironic. If you get one of the many illegal copies of the product out there in the web, you’ll have a better user experience (no activation). If you buy the product, they’re making it difficult for you to install it!

In a way Adobe is making the case for piracy!

]]> By: adam http://www.aquick.org/blog/2005/06/20/open-letter-to-adobe/comment-page-1/#comment-371 adam Mon, 20 Jun 2005 23:16:30 +0000 /?p=824#comment-371 Frankly, I'd settle for getting them to stop treating their customers like criminals. Frankly, I’d settle for getting them to stop treating their customers like criminals.

]]> By: Av4rice http://www.aquick.org/blog/2005/06/20/open-letter-to-adobe/comment-page-1/#comment-370 Av4rice Mon, 20 Jun 2005 22:29:38 +0000 /?p=824#comment-370 If they're going to spit in your face either way, you might as well just steal from them. You'll get the same treatment as before plus you'll save money. Adobe just made the decision easy for you. If they’re going to spit in your face either way, you might as well just steal from them. You’ll get the same treatment as before plus you’ll save money. Adobe just made the decision easy for you.

]]> By: KM http://www.aquick.org/blog/2005/06/20/open-letter-to-adobe/comment-page-1/#comment-369 KM Mon, 20 Jun 2005 21:17:36 +0000 /?p=824#comment-369 ZING! ZING!

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