Dear Adobe,
When I click on the red icon in my dock with the “Fl” in it, it means that I want to use your Flash CS3 program to create Flash content. It generally does not mean that I want to spend 20 minutes downloading and installing 300 megs worth of updates to Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Camera Raw, Adobe Bridge, and Adobe Version Cue. Particularly since I don’t think I have actually used any of these products since I installed them. OK, Photoshop a bit, but the rest, never.
Furthermore, since it was my goal to use Flash CS3 this morning, it’s a bit of a kick in the face that I am then told to shut down Flash CS3 in order to continue installing the Camera Raw thing that I never use. Of course, if I choose not to do so, it’s most likely going to pop up the next time I try to run Flash CS3 and we’ll go through this again. I’ll take my chances, because I really do need to do some Flash work this morning. And I can probably get by without Camera Raw for … well, until I get a camera that I can use it with.
Thanks,
Your biggest fan.
Welcome to the world of the integrated product suite. I’ve ignored almost every update for this very reason. I think I get prompted more for Adobe updates than I do new Virus updates. That could also be because I’m using Adobe products on my PC probably 99% of the time.
I looked up this Camera Raw, and was surprised to find it actually wasn’t something to help my computer digest un-cooked cameras. Sorry, my Dell, no more Canon sushi for you.
http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop/cameraraw.html
I empathize, and apologize, and will pass this link along, but could you also log this complaint directly with the Flash authoring team too please ?
http://www.adobe.com/go/wish
The Updater/installation team don’t have a direct feedback route of their own yet, but getting complaints directly into the nearest team’s database could help as much as a weblog entry, thanks.
jd/adobe
Thanks John. I just logged it.
Amen, brother. Adobe’s updater seems to constantly require updates for the programs I NEVER use and didn’t want installed in the first place. I don’t care how important you think Adobe Photoshop Album Starter Edition may be, Adobe. I don’t want it. Go away.
Updater always was a pain in the ass in Adobe Reader… Popping around when you were opening a small document just to have a look, downloading megs as if it were a full install rather than an update, piling up successive versions on your hard drive so that you had at least 5 in no more than 3 months… Such a rude behaviour had me uninstall it and turn toward Foxit!
Sad they brought such bothers to the flash world… Let’s hope it won’t cripple the flash player too…
The worst one is ‘adobe bridge’ – WTF is adobe bridge and why does it constantly need to be updated??
I’m pretty sure that if you just delete “Adobe Updater” from /Applications/Utilitites, it’ll stay silent. I doubt you’d miss out on anything either as updates to Flash are also distributed separately. Shouldn’t pose a problem.
J
John, if you’re still reading…I tried to submit a feature request for Flash and got back a returned mail: apparently the page routes feature requests to a bad (defunct?) email address. See the following:
—– The following addresses had permanent fatal errors —–
(reason: 550 Host not found for domain:macromedia.com – psmtp)
Thanks, I’ve seen other reports that the mm.com addresses are bouncing too. My memory is that the wishform is database’d directly, and then sends additional optional messages to certain staffers, which is why you got that alert. We should change the interface though, so that people don’t have to wonder if the message made it through any of its paths.
Here’s what Sean Corfield (ex-MM/Adobe) reported on the issue yesterday: “The plain macromedia.com domain is no longer active.
http://www.macromedia.com is bound to www-mm-wip3.adobe.com so http://
http://www.macromedia.com will work but http://macromedia.com will not (and
therefore sending mail to the plain macromedia.com domain will fail).”
jd/adobe
I was actually just about to sit down and rant about this myself. I have been meaning to do so for weeks now but everytime I think to do it the Updater makes me shut down Firefox, Flash and Photoshop, so since I cant work or surf I just shut down my apps and take a nap and when I wake up I forget all about making the post. Just another CS3 drain on productivity (second only to the pain is the ass installation process).
So thanks for taking the time to post Kieth. I’d add a linkback to this post in my own blog entry but the updater just noticed I was considering some productivity just now and has asked me to shut down Firefox, must be nap time.