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Acrobat.com goes pro
If you don't sign up for a premium account, you'll be limited to creating 5 PDF files per month, web conferences will be limited to 3 users, and you'll be stuck with just 100 file downloads per month. There's also a cheaper plan for $14.99/month or $149/year that falls somewhere between the free and Premium Plus plans.
Adobe is also rolling out an experimental spreadsheet app called Tables as part of Acrobat.com Labs.
I can understand why Adobe would decide to create a subscription-based service in order to make some money off of their product. What I can't understand is why anyone looking for an office suite for personal use would choose to use Acrobat.com instead of alternatives like Zoho Docs, Google Docs, or even a desktop application like Microsoft Office, which might cost more up front, but which doesn't have ongoing subscription costs.
Then again, maybe the goal was never to market Acrobat.com to personal users. The key may be the web conferencing and support features, which could make Acrobat.com an attractive option for small businesses in need of collaboration tools.
[via CNET]
Comments
3
Subscribe to commentsSaint SeminoleJun 15th 2009 12:56PM
Yep, Adobe still doesn't get it.
You have to pay for "the ability to create unlimited PDF files"? Seems silly when there are quite a few freeware apps on the market now that do exactly that and integrate seamlessly with Windows. (In particular, I'm thinking of PDF Creator, which I use almost daily).
Certainly, it's a company that wants to make money, and they should find good ways to do that. But charging high fees for things that are free elsewhere doesn't seem like a good idea...
(Think about this: If Six Flags was charging you $40 per ticket while a similar amusement park down the road was free, which one would you go to?)
ShortbuserJun 15th 2009 1:16PM
To the uninformed who don't have a road map to the free amusement park down the road, they wouldn't think anything of it. I think they rely a lot on that.
Erik LarsonJun 15th 2009 2:05PM
Acrobat.com will still provide a free offering, the same as it was when in beta. The subscriptions are specifically for business users with more intense collaboration needs. We expect most people will find the free service will meet their needs. And business people who need more will find our products and prices very competitive. So to extend Shortbuser's comment, we give you a map to both the free park and the $40 one with a 250-foot roller coaster.
-Erik Larson
Acrobat.com