Not too long ago I noted a startlingly assertive campaign underway by Autodesk to replace the Adobe PDF with the "DWF," a file format that Autodesk boasts to be far superior in its parsing of computer-aided drawing files. Now, I'll admit: I recently began using Acrobat Distiller's add-on soft-printer to prepare AutoCAD files for clients, and the day I found out about all of this, I'd run into some difficulties with a few complicated drawings. Since Adobe Acrobat's PDF files are universal for document exchanges, my assumption was that Adobe and Autodesk might sit down for an intercorporate powwow to work out better communication between CAD files and Acrobat Distiller - all for the benefit of individuals, companies and municipalities who aren't specialized and rely on generic formats to communicate.
I was wrong. Now, commercial death fatwas aren't unheard of; Microsoft has spent the better part of two years trying to smother MP3.com tycoon Michael Robertson's Linux-based operating system called "Lindows." But they're not common occurrences in the market, either. I don't recall any Coke pitch along the lines of "Pepsi is scraped from the bedpans of dysenteric elephants," or a McDonald's ad with old Ronald suggesting "Burger King today, vegetarian tomorrow." Pepto-Bismol gets a reprieve with semi-anonymity when slammed as "the pink stuff." Even Rosie spares Bounty's competitors when she wipes away fruit juice spills at two - no! - three times their capillary action. Most companies realize that lowering the standard for their rivals opens themselves up for the same treatment. It's a touchy business.
So you can imagine my reaction when a coworker showed me this ad he found on the inside back cover of this month's Cadalyst:
Part of me is speechless; the other part is busy figuring that the top-left performer snuck out of a Wim Wenders movie and that the de-unicycled fellow's expression is priceless. What's Autodesk's next step in, er, wooing open-mouthed tech consumers to the DWF?
Whatever may come - for now? Ouch. That's a jab and a haymaker, Adobe. You've got a bit of honor to defend.
UPDATE: My silent prediction that Adobe would give Autodesk's offensive the silent treatment is underscored by the fact that the attack on the PDF may only amount to bizarre fist-shaking:
On Wednesday [September 10, 2003], Adobe announced it had net income of $64.5 million, or 27 cents a share, for the quarter, which ended Aug. 29. That compares with $47.2 million, or 19 cents a share, in the same period a year ago. Analysts polled by research firm First Call had predicted income of 25 cents a share. Revenue for the quarter was $319.1 million, compared with $284.9 million a year ago.Executives attributed the growth to the company's e-paper division, which produces Acrobat and other products based on Adobe's portable document format (PDF). The company revamped the Acrobat line a few months ago, adding a high-end version and a stripped-down product, aimed at getting office workers to use PDF as the standard choice for exchanging documents.
Touché. Adobe defends their honor after all!