- The Race to Rich-Media Domination
- Adobe Steps into the Interactive Arena
- Adobe's Mission: One Application for Print and Interactivity
- Adobe Redefines the Office Workflow
- Page-Based vs. Timeline Formats
- The Cost of Playback
- Adobe Introduces Reader 5.1
- Multimedia Moves to the Web Page
- Acrobat's Best Friend: Adobe InDesign
- InDesign Gets Interactive
- A Polarized New-Media Industry
- Rich-Media PDF and Disruptive Technologies
- Building a Team That Includes Everyone
- Reader 8 (PDF 1.7)
- Commenting and Forms
- Attached Files
- Viewing Interactive 3D Rich Media
- Adobe and Macromedia
Reader 8 (PDF 1.7)
The resistance to rich-media PDF, up until this point, was widespread and felt by many print designers who now want to embrace the Internet. They are constantly told that Flash eBrochures are the way to go. Even the Acrobat sales reps inform me that the Flash Player plug-in is widely installed in most Web browsers, so advertising agencies and media companies favor a rich-media Web experience using Flash because they know the majority of Internet users will be able to have a flawless rich-media experience.
Adobe knows the challenges that lie ahead. But to upgrade to the newer versions of Reader that can play rich media, the user needs some incentive. It's sort of like the chicken and the egg. If there are no rich-media PDFs on the Internet, why would people upgrade? The installed base of Reader 6 or newer is rapidly growing, but incentives are needed to speed up the adoption. Other than creating a killer rich-media PDF title and giving it away, what can you do to get people to upgrade? The reps have now returned to the roots of Acrobat, stressing the benefits of a paperless office and providing other valid reasons to upgrade to Reader.
- If there are no rich-media PDFs on the Internet, why would people upgrade?