Something tells me it's not going to work with the RAW format :)
On 2/28/07, Dana wrote: > this is interesting: > > Adobe to take Photoshop online > Hosted version of program to appear within six months, CEO says, as > company looks to combine online features with packaged apps. > By Martin LaMonica and Mike Ricciuti > Staff Writer, CNET News.com > > Published: February 28, 2007, 11:09 AM PST > TalkBack E-mail Print del.icio.us Digg this > Hoping to get a jump on Google and other competitors, Adobe Systems > plans to release a hosted version of its popular Photoshop > image-editing application within six months, the company's chief > executive said Tuesday. > > The online service is part of a larger move to introduce ad-supported > online services to complement its existing products and broaden the > company reach into the consumer market, Adobe CEO Bruce Chizen told > CNET News.com. > > High ImpactWhat's new: > Adobe intends to offer a hosted version of its popular Photoshop > image-editing program in the next three to six months, according to > CEO Bruce Chizen. > > Bottom line: > The hosted version of Photoshop is part of a bigger company strategy > to introduce Internet-delivered services that complement its > shrink-wrapped applications and head off likely competition from > Google. > Chizen said Adobe laid the foundation for a hosted Photoshop product > with Adobe Remix, a Web-based video-editing tool it offers through the > PhotoBucket media-sharing site. > > Like Adobe Remix, the hosted Photoshop service is set to be free and > marketed as an entry-level version of Adobe's more sophisticated > image-editing tools, including Photoshop and Photoshop Elements. > Chizen envisions revenue from the Photoshop service coming from online > advertising. > > "That is new (for Adobe). It's something we are sensitive to because > we are watching folks like Google do it in different categories, and > we want to make sure that we are there before they are, in areas of > our franchises," Chizen said. > > Chizen described the introduction of Adobe Remix and the forthcoming > hosted Photoshop as part of a larger move toward integrating hosted > services into the company's product mix. > > Bruce Chizen Like Microsoft, Adobe's business is built largely around > packaged software, installed locally on users' PCs. Likewise, Adobe's > plans to diversify its business with online services mirrors a > large-scale effort at Microsoft to introduce a combination of software > and services. > > As online applications become more functional, Adobe is seeking out > areas where Web services can fill out its product portfolio, Chizen > said. > > The company intends to offer entirely hosted applications, as well as > "hybrids," in which Adobe uses the Web to introduce features to > desktop products, such as Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, he added. > > "We recognize there is a customer there--we recognize they are not > going to pay us, necessarily, directly. But we could use ad revenue as > a model. Google has demonstrated that it works pretty well for certain > types of applications," Chizen said. > > Indeed, Adobe's online push has as much to do with consumers' > expectations as encroaching competition from Google, said Peter > O'Kelly, an analyst at Burton Group. > > "From a digital-media consumer experience, Adobe really needs, for > competitive and customer value reasons, to be the end-to-end products > and services supplier," O'Kelly said. "It doesn't portend well if > Adobe can't get on top of it." > > The latest version of Google's Picasa, which is a desktop application, > introduces features to post photos on the Web. It also allows people > to read Photoshop files, O'Kelly noted. > > Showdown with Picasa? > Chizen said that although hosted Photoshop is meant to be a low-end > product, the company intends to ensure that it is of a higher quality > than free alternatives. As an online image-editing application, Adobe > faces a challenge in providing a good experience for customers, he > added. > > "You don't want (network) latency to be an issue for the user, so it's > harder, in some ways, than a video Remix product," he said. "Even > though bandwidth is increasing, the pipes are getting filled with > video, so the user experience will likely stay the same for the next > three to five years." > > The company is also wary of not diluting the brand name of Photoshop, > a program widely used by creative professionals such as designers and > illustrators. > > "If we offered a host-based version of Photoshop that's > Photoshop-branded (and is) potentially better than Picasa, you'd > probably go the Photoshop route because of your belief in the > Photoshop brand and the quality associated with the brand," Chizen > said. > > A Google representative was not immediately available for comment on > Adobe's plans. > > As Adobe introduces more online multimedia features and products, the > company intends to use its expertise in products such as Photoshop and > video-editing suite Premiere Pro, and to combine it with the Web > development savvy it gained through its acquisition of Macromedia. > > Now on News.com: > Adobe to bring Photoshop online > Tools and tussles for Microsoft Windows > Two visions of PCs in emerging nations > Extra: 'Star Trek' to return in 2008 > Video: Tom Perkins: HP did not want independent directors > Remix, for example, was written using Flex, the development > environment for Adobe's Flash Player. > > Chizen noted that Google's wealth of technical talent in Web > development makes it the most likely candidate to challenge Adobe as > it offers hosted media-editing applications. He indicated that Adobe > is still weighing its options in regard to how it will deliver hosted, > ad-supported services. > > Its deal with PhotoBucket around Adobe Remix is not exclusive. The > partnership arrangement allows Adobe to share advertising dollars > without having to invest in the computing infrastructure and people to > operate the Web site, he said. > > But revenues from Web ads could potentially justify an Adobe > investment in offering hosted services directly, Chizen said. "Once we > see that it could be a significant revenue producer, then maybe we'll > want to deal with it," he said. > > The company already offers Acrobat Connect, a service for Web > conferencing introduced with the most recent release of its Acrobat > PDF reader. > > > http://news.com.com/Adobe+to+take+Photoshop+online/2100-7345_3-6163015.html?tag=nl.e498 > > -- > No enemies had ever taken Ankh-Morpock. Well technically they had, > quite often; the city welcomed free-spending barbarian invaders, but > somehow the puzzled raiders found, after a few days, that they didn't > own their horses any more, and within a couple of months they were > just another minority group with its own graffiti and food shops. > > -- (Terry Pratchett, Eric) > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Macromedia ColdFusion MX7 Upgrade to MX7 & experience time-saving features, more productivity. http://www.adobe.com/products/coldfusion Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/message.cfm/messageid:229164 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.5
