A Death of the Family

Once upon a Time the Adobe Photoshop Forum was a community.  A lot like a family.  There were members who participated daily for a decade or more. Friends. Friends who are now gone, thanks to Jive ware.

A great many of us met one another face-to-face.  Even more have talked on the phone.  We celebrated births of children, new houses, new jobs.  We commiserated over lost jobs, broken marriages, deaths.  We kept up with one another's birthdays.  We had a round robin Christmas card exchange.  Our community, though online, was a real community with daily exchanges, dear friends, like family.  Now gone.  Like a death of the family.

We shared vibrant, energized discussions of how to improve one’s skills using Photoshop.  What one person does not know, another does.  Or did.  The knowledge shared on the Photoshop forum of this day is dismal in comparison.

I personally have owned Dreamweaver about as long as I have owned Photoshop, 11 years or so.  In the beginning I tried visiting the Dreamweaver (Macromedia) forums.  They were cold, devoid of friendship, and uninviting.  No reason to go back there.  I'm not surprised a spirit of community never developed there.  I learned how to use Dreamweaver via the Adobe Photoshop forum.

Now, we old-timers, faithful Adobe customers, are being told that we should put on a happy face and learn to love Jive ware.  We are being told our discontent is the only problem. That this is the only forum that HAS a problem. This forum,  Forum Comments,  where complaints / suggestions on how to improve things  are supposed to be lodged.

We know better.  Jive ware sucks.  It has killed our community and we are supposed to learn to love it.

Also, we are being told there were numerous complaints voiced about recently banned members.

Funny thing about that.  Where are all those numerous complaints?  Perhaps that means there is another forum where these complaints were lodged?  One we, Adobe's customers are not allowed access to?  Or perhaps these complainers managed to e-mail Adobe employees?  Those same employees whose e-mail addresses are not available?

Somehow that does not have a ring of truth.

Or perhaps all these numerous complaints were lodged by one moderator?  That might make sense, if any of this makes sense.

We are told we should ask members why they were banned.  Of course since they are banned, that won't be easy will it?  That is, of course, assuming they have been told.

I must admit that while I am sorely disappointed, I am not surprised with the way Adobe has in the past and now continues to handle one member's complaints about another.

The Adobe way is to take one for a member's complaint about another and ban the accused, without so much as making the effort to contact the accused to find out their side of things.  No matter how serious the charges or how serious the repercussions to the person who has been banned.  No matter if there is not a single word of truth in the accusations.

That sucks even more than Jive ware.

Clearly our former community is of no importance to Adobe. Sorry, I cannot put on a Happy Face.

Paz