If you counted the number of products, technologies, and services that Adobe has discontinued, you would get to over 60. The company says that it "occasionally discontinues the sale, development of, or support for a product or technology as a result of changing market conditions and impact to customers."
The reasons given by Adobe for discontinuing certain products may be noble. Still, many video editors are left reeling when the company discontinues certain products, services, or technologies. Excellent examples of discontinued valuable products for people in the video production space are Adobe TV and Adobe Creative Suite.
This article tries to find out what happened to Adobe TV and Adobe Creative Suite.
The History of Adobe TV
Adobe TV was an online network that offered content from various networks like Scripps Networks, CBS, Universal Music Group, MTV Networks, and CondéNet. An analysis of the television network's archive pages shows that it was first captured online in April 2008. TV.Adobe.com was the online network's official website.
Adobe TV promised viewers "a full range of programs, from entertainment through instruction." Adding that its content was "For all kinds of viewers who wear all kinds of hats."
An article published on the University of Cape Town website advises students that "Adobe TV has the online resources you need to improve your Photoshop, Acrobat, InDesign and Dreamweaver skills." Adding, "the online TV network offers how-to training videos, useful tips and tricks, the latest information on Adobe products and services, and ideas on what other Adobe users are doing."
An exciting feature of TV.Adobe.com was that it allowed viewers to either watch content online or use Adobe Media to download their favorite episodes to watch later. If you liked specific videos, you could also post the videos on your blog or share them.
A Tremendous Success
Writing for the streaming media news website, StreamingMedia.com, Jill Woodson says that the "Adobe TV project was a tremendous success." Woodson adds that "The number of unique visitors to the English-language site - the first among several international sites to launch - increased by more than 50% during the first 2 months."
In the first three years after its launch, "1.4 million unique visitors worldwide [were visiting] the … Adobe TV site monthly, logging almost 2 million video views during that time," reports Woodson.
The numbers above didn't come as a surprise if you consider that in 2011, 98% of internet-connected desktops across the world had already installed Adobe Flash Player.
The Content
Adobe TV cross-promoted products like Adobe After Effects, which provided users with tools to edit video and create professional video effects. After Effects was part of Adobe's discontinued Creative Suite. Using the Creative Suite software, users could edit their videos and directly stream them on Adobe TV.
From an archived page of TV.Adobe.com, we counted more than 50 channels that provided content related to video production, photography, design, education, web development, business productivity, and youth.
Below is a brief description of some of the popular channels on Adobe TV:
Video and Audio
The video and audio channels provided different content in diverse segments, including video authoring, production, and streaming.
One of the popular sections was the customer stories where viewers could learn "how Adobe customers approach film-making, digital effects, pre-visualization, and a variety of video techniques using Adobe Creative Suite Production Premium."
Photography
Channels providing content related to photography included Photo Editing, Photo Management, Photography Case Studies, and Photoshop Tutorials. You could sort through the content in this section based on alphabetic order, the highest-rated, most viewed, or recently updated.
Under the photography segment, the Creative Suite Podcast channel was described by Adobe TV as an "entertaining and informative series [that] includes candid conversations with Adobe executives, insight from product experts, and the latest information on innovative products from Adobe."
Education
The education channels targeted students and educators and provided useful info about K12 education, higher education, and professional development. Students and educators could learn digital communication and video production skills from experts in the field. The channel had some programs that helped higher-education teachers and learners to prepare for careers where Adobe products are used.
The Departure of Third-Party Channels
Notwithstanding the success achieved by Adobe TV in its first few years, the network suffered a blow on June 18, 2009. Adobe.Fandom.com reports that this was the day when "third party channels stopped streaming on Adobe Media Player, leaving Adobe TV as the sole provider of original content, which was mainly limited to demos and tutorials for Adobe products and services."
The Demise of Creative Suite
One of the leading products frequently presented on Adobe TV programs was Adobe Creative Suite. Like Adobe TV, the Creative Suite was also shattered by Adobe.
On June 5, 2013, Mark Wilson, writing for FastCompany.com, reported that "today, Adobe has announced that there will be no Creative Suite 7." This is an announcement that Wilson says left the internet unhappy.
But why was Adobe shuttering the Creative Suite? In another article published by FastCompany.com, Wilson provides the answer. He says that the main reason Adobe decided to stop supporting the creative suite was that the company's new product, the Creative Cloud, had been gaining traction faster than expected.
What Then Happened to Adobe TV and Adobe Creative Suite?
By May 2016, it was clear that the future didn't lie with Adobe TV. A message on an archived page of TV.Adobe.com says, "As we phase out Adobe TV, Adobe Learn will be the new home for tutorials and other assets to help you create your best work."
Even though Adobe may have downplayed the launch of Adobe Cloud in 2013, it seems as if this is the moment when the first nail on the Adobe Suite coffin was struck.
While Adobe gives its reasons for shuttering Adobe Suite, Wilson has an opinion of his own, "I think Adobe should have known better." He adds, "By all means, push the Creative Cloud–the seamless, collaborative technology is inarguably the right technological direction–but sell it to the market as the better option, not the only one."
