ADOBE TO ACQUIRE MACROMEDIA

I'm still trying to make my mind: is this good or is it bad? As everything in life, nothing is completely black or white, and the merger of Adobe and Macromedia is no exception. There are always trade-offs. For example, the concretion of this merger would mean that Flash and everything Flash-related would have the support of a bigger institution, however I wonder how will that affect Macromedia's company culture and relationship with their developers.

Marketing wise, Adobe feels to me like a dinosaur whereas Macromedia has a more fresh and innovative attitude. I don't know about you, but the only Adobe product I use on a regular basis is Photoshop, and then a little Illustrator every now and then, ever since Macromedia left Freehand to die of boredom. In the other hand though, Adobe's print products are second to none and their video products have an important market share too; it almost seems like they where preparing for the merge since while ago, ever since Adobe realized their web products were inferior.

There are lots of questions we probably won't get answers to any time soon. All we can do for the moment is speculate and hope for the best. One thing is for sure though: the world is not gonna change because of this merger.

But, what about the name? Adobe Flash MX 2006 anybody?

More reading
Macromedia's Press Room: Adobe to acquire Macromedia
About Adobe: Adobe and Macromedia

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I'm concerned by this, I love photoshop but I love the interface design and usability of flash and dreamweaver, I liked how macromedia seemed to be run, I like the feeling of the company, this could be a disaster, they could destroy our beloved apps, I hope to god they don't splice any golive code into dreamweaver *shudder*

I really don't think Adobe would buy Macromedia to destroy the products they have, those are actually what they want out of the merger (and the people that built them of course). If you think about it very carefully, Adobe and Macromedia don't have that much in common, and their set of products complement each other in most cases.

I most concerned about the image Macromedia has among the development community. I wonder what will happen to users groups, conferences, etc., I mean, other than get new goodies :)

OK, has anyone stopped to consider what this will mean for us designers? From a pesimistic viewpoint, I fear this could spell the end of a time when a creative like myself could feel empowered by the knowledge of multiple authoring environments... to not have to think inside just one box. I enjoy being able to use more than one tool to get a job done. Not only does it increase my marketability, but it also gives the work a cutting edge.
Now I do agree that the two companies have been such a vital part of so many designers lives that it was probably a matter of time before they united... but does anyone else smell a Microsoft a brewin'? Now you'll HAVE to work with one company if you're going to compete in the industry.... I don't like that. But the good thing about being a creative is that I'm flexible... and I'm observant... lets see what they do... I just hope we have an alternative to turn to if they start to put the screws to us.