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Subject:Re: InDesign vs. Frame From:"David Neeley" <dbneeley -at- gmail -dot- com> To:techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com Date:Thu, 24 May 2007 07:53:44 -0600
I think it is very clear the direction Adobe is going. Immediately
before the launch of Frame 7.0, Adobe's CEO, Bruce Chizen, was
interviewed and the interview was published on the Web.
He said at that time that the Frame code base was outdated and
increasingly difficult to maintain and build upon. He also said that a
much more modern, modular design characterized InDesign--and that over
time, Frame's capabilities would be folded into the InDesign code
base.
Whether that would be simply a "plumbing job" to replace the
underlying code for a separate version--a next generation Frame, in
essence--or simply a more capable InDesign, I don't believe may have
been decided as yet.
By the way, that interview was quickly denied by the PR staff at
Adobe. I thought it rather peculiar that they could with straight
faces claim their CEO was mistaken about product direction!
Not too long thereafter, the American development staff of Frame was
given walking papers and the development shifted to India, IIRC.
I would not be surprised at all if 8.0 is the last separate version of
Frame--nor would I particularly regret it, assuming the features of
InDesign have been expanded commensurately.
However, one drawback to InDesign even if these features are added is
its enormous flexibility in typography. That should stimulate many
"font fiddlers" to waste even more time on the mechanics rather than
the content!
David
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