Backlash on the FedEx/Kinko’s Button in Adobe Reader
We weren’t the only ones a little miffed by the inclusion of the “Send to FedEx Kinko’s” button in Adobe Reader 8. Here is what a recent letter to Adobe from NAPL and NAQP had to say:
“The advantage gained by FedEx Kinko’s through this agreement with Adobe comes at the expense of the many other printers—including many of our members—who have played such a pivotal role in establishing Adobe as the defacto standard among many end users for reading documents and printing file submission. Many of our member companies have, with the encouragement of Adobe, actively promoted the use of Adobe Acrobat products—and a PDF workflow—with their clients.”
Adobe has responded by forming an “advisory councel” and meeting with the Print Indusry Advisory where they came up with these goals:
1. Re-evaluate the implementation of the FedEx Kinko’s service in Adobe Acrobat and Adobe Reader.
2. Explore options of making print service providers more discoverable in Adobe’s creative products.
3. Investigate the ability for printers to distribute a branded plug-in to their customers.
A plug-in system is definitely the way to go here, Adobe. Either that or an update with a built-in preference for shutting that option off. The fact that preference doesn’t exist makes it seem likely that excluding it was part of the contract and we won’t be seeing that happen.
Remember, if you want to shut off that button, look no further.
