Report your issues to Adobe or else!

A new Flash Player has come out and it is worse than before or perhaps the Adobe CS Suite is nuking itself randomly.  What do these issues both have in common you might ask?  The answer is that you’ve not told Adobe about your issues.  Or maybe you have…once…a long time ago in a galaxy far far away.  Either way, it is time to bring your issues to Adobe’s attention.  We can’t expect anything to get fixed unless we are willing to take a few moments to tell Adobe that we are having problems.  If you complain that Adobe’s products are getting worse and worse yet you have not told them about it, it is no better than expecting your spouse or significant other to read your mind.

Look at Acrobat 9 as a case study.  Acrobat 9 was awful when it came to deploying it on OS X.  You had to do all types of hacky things to get it to work without prompting the user for admin rights.  On top of that there was no good way to license it except for grabbing a copy of the licensing database…which if installed on a machine with a CS on it already, it would break the other products.  Now look at Acrobat X.  It is majorly improved…it is a proper Apple Package AND it has a licensing method that works.  Is it perfect?  No product is perfect, but it is so greatly improved over Acrobat 9 that I have to think they heard the complaints and addressed them.

Get on it!  Tell Adobe what your struggles have been with their products as of late.  I talked with Jody Rodgers and he provided links and information on how to best communicate your struggles.  The TLDR (Too Long, Didn’t Read) is as follows:

Follow Common Courtesy

• Use your real name.  We are all professionals and this keeps us accountable.
• Be specific about the issues you are having.  Think about how frustrating it is when an end user is vague when describing a problem to you.  Don’t do the same.
• Make it clear how much the issue impacts your org.  If licensing blew up on all your CS installs, make it clear how many machines and how it has negatively impacted your people.
• Don’t be a jerk.  You attract more bees with honey than with vinegar.  Be respectful and clear.  Leave out as much frustration-fueled talk as you can.  A little is ok, they can handle it.

Twitter

• Adobe – @adobe
• Flash Player – @AdobeFlash
• Adobe Customer Care – @Adobe_Care
• Adobe AAMEE Support – @Adobe_ITToolKit

Web

• Flash Player Forum – http://forums.adobe.com/community/flashplayer
• Adobe Bugbase – https://bugbase.adobe.com/
• Adobe Support – https://getsatisfaction.com/adobe
• Adobe Griping – http://dearadobe.com/

If you are interested in more details regarding submitting issues to Adobe, check them out here.