Adobe, FedEx Kinko’s Pact Creates Firestorm —Michelson

ONE MIGHT well have thought the dangerous wildfires that ravaged parts of California and other Western states this summer also engulfed Adobe Systems’ headquarters in San Jose. They did not. But Adobe CEO Bruce Chizen should have donned his fire protection gear anyway, especially after landing in the hot seat following his software company’s June 6 pact with FedEx Kinko’s. The two companies collaborated to incorporate a “send to FedEx Kinko’s” button within Adobe Reader 8.1 and Adobe Acrobat 8.1 software—making it appear to many in the industry that Adobe is endorsing one print provider. The move has incensed independent and franchise commercial and quick printers, in-plants, as well as the associations that serve them.