FW: Adobe CEO interview

[mcarr at allette.com.au]

Ann Zdunczyk wrote:

> It is interesting that I have been hearing about paperless offices
> for years but have yet to see one. Its like the people that say books
> are going away and being replaced by electronic media. I, as a reader,
> plan to continue reading PAPER books. I do not plan to read on a
> screen, I do that all day. It is much easier to read a book at the
> beach, in the tub, in bed etc rather that a laptop, PDF, etc. I do not
> listen to books on tape, I READ. I love the SMELL of a book. I love the
> feel of a book.

Despite the fact that environmentally it would be very desirable to
eliminate paper, I think the real push has been for the smart organization
of information rather than the elimination of a clumsy way of delivering
it. By all accounts, the amount of information being stored is still
increasing dramatically and it's getting far easier for us to put our
hands on it, so it's not that surprising that we continue to use at least
as much paper as in the past.

As far as a device that you can comfortably and safely use in the tub is
concerned, I don't think that paper will be the delivery method of the
future. Macintosh will no doubt come out with a range of topic-oriented
scents (historic tome, murder mystery, etc.) for their TubPaper (TM) that
will achieve your comfort factor as well as providing searchability,
bookmarks that don't fall out, background music and can be adjusted for
reading in candlelight.

I asked my daughter what she was doing at school a couple of weeks ago.
"We're creating a database of endangered species" was the answer. I
thought that was kind of interesting... because she's 8 years old and in
grade 3. Paper books are going the way of the comforting crackling of the
wireless. Adobe will have a formidable job of keeping FrameMaker relevant,
but like you, I hope they manage to.


Marcus