Adobe Missed the Mark with e-learning Software

Please be aware that your opinion, though no doubt shared by many others, remains your opinion and is unlikely to change either Adobe or the majority of users on this forum.  Like yourself, I have used Articulate and Adobe's e-learning tools, but (strangely) I came to a somewhat different conclusion.

You are correct that Articulate simply copied the PowerPoint UI with Storyline and this does make its learning curve flatter for previous PowerPoint users.  Captivate's interface owes more to Adobe's other apps such as Photoshop and Animate.  It leans more to the graphic design industry rather than Microsoft Office.  However, that does not mean it cannot deliver a good user experience.  Whether you like it or not is often determined by what other tools with which you happen to be familiar.

I agree with you that the approach Adobe took with regard to integrating PowerPoint files with Captivate is very different to the one taken by Articulate.  When you bring a PPT deck into Storyline it gets completely converted to Storyline format, whereas in Captivate the original PPT deck remains unchanged and can either be linked to the CPTX or encapsulated within it. 

Each approach has upsides and downsides.  With Articulate it's a one-way-street with no return back.  With Captivate it's a round-trip where you still end up with a usable PPT file at the end.  (See this recent post by Articulate's excellent evangelist Tom Kuhlman about what you need to do if you want a PPT version of your finished Storyline course: https://blogs.articulate.com/rapid-elearning/convert-storyline-courses-powerpoint/)

For me the ulimate question here is whether or not I consider superior e-learning can only be created when PowerPoint is an integral part of the mix.  Personally I do not.  It's a great tool for creating presentations, but not great for interactive e-learning (something Tom himself freely admits). I much prefer to start all my e-learning projects in Captivate from the ground up because that just gives me the greatest creative freedom.

Do I think that everyone should love Captivate? Not really.  Everyone's taste is different and that's just the way life works.  Can you create great e-learning with Storyline AND Captivate?  ABSOLUTELY!  That's because the greatest determinator of quality for the final e-learning product is the same as it is with any other type of product. It comes down to the skill of the developer, not the tool they used.  As has been often said:  A bad tradesman ALWAYS blames his tools.

Enjoy your time with Storyline.  I hope you create great e-learning.  But I would like to point out that anyone who judges other people's creations (e.g. Adobe's Captivate in this case) when they are incapable of creating anything even remotly like it, might also be considered a tad "arrogant and dismissive" themselves.