Fundamental concepts and faster horses…

[Guest]

I'm not posting this to be negative or controversial, but rather because I care.
I really like what Serif is trying to do with Affinity, yet I fear they've yet to communicate what makes their products different (beyond price and maybe performance), and why users should care.

Interesting article that would well be worth a read for the folks at Serif: How to Eat an Elephant, One Atomic Concept at a Time.

It's about how companies like Sketch, Figma, and Canva (note: Affinity is notably absent) have taken on Adobe by focusing on concepts and abstractions that are fundamentally different from Adobe's legacy applications, yet also resonate with customers in ways that Adobe's existing products do not. It's not just about not having a software subscription (all of the products mentioned do), or having the cheapest option—it's about finding the right concepts and abstractions that enable your customers to accomplish things unimaginable in other tools.

"These companies have distinct atomic concepts from Adobe. The primitives that their products are built around are fundamentally different from those of Adobe’s product lineup. It’s these different fundamental atomic concepts that turn Adobe’s advantage of an established product and existing userbase into a weakness that hinders their ability to counter these upstarts. The opportunity for these new atomic concepts to thrive is driven by the new use cases and types of users unearthed during market transitions."

…

"The best products map to how customers think about their workflow. They match the abstraction level of their customers: not too high that it’s unusable, but not too low that it’s hard to use easily or extend in more complex ways."

We are not in the 90s anymore. While print and 'desktop publishing' isn't going anywhere, it's also area where much of the innovation happened years ago and the processes and workflows around that innovation are well established. Creating another Illustrator, Photoshop or InDesign in 2021 is much like Henry Ford creating "a faster horse" — it solves the problem you had at some point in history, not in the context of today (let alone tomorrow). 

Also see my comment from Affinity Photo is fantastic but still cumbersome to use on a basic level.

What do Affinity apps enable you to do that is either fundamentally very difficult or impossible in other applications?

[Move Along People]

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[Guest]

4 minutes ago, haakoo said:

Again just another captain commenting from ashore.
 

No, just a concerned passenger wondering where this boat is going.

[wonderings]

I skimmed through the article, mainly out of curiosity to what they would say about Canva. Canva can make pretty looking files easily and quickly for any regular office worker but their files are horrible. Had many issues with customer supplied Canva files, especially if you need to fix or alter anything about it. I personally hate the files that come from Canva but you get what you pay for. I am speaking from a print stand point, not sure how it fairs for other mediums. Yes it is simple to design and create trendy flyers and things like that but without knowing print, working with proper files you get a lot of junk. Every design that has come from a client who uses Canva has their logo pixelated as they did not use vector files, no care for the print process and what to avoid to make sure you get a good print. I would say with most people you are asking them to do and setup something they have zero knowledge about. I have looked at it briefly and am sure someone with the knowledge could make good print ready files but then you are back at having someone who knows what they are doing and they probably have Adobe or Affinity to get the job done correctly. 

[Jowday]

On 2/9/2021 at 11:48 AM, haakoo said:

Again just another captain commenting from ashore.

Another ridiculous, pointless comment and another self-humiliating sad emoji from you. But this time you really made it clear that you do not understand a thing. Obviously you are isolated from where the action is in the corporate world. And the rest. What is the point with your emoji responses and anti anti anti posts? You have to know something to say something. You are not contributing. Just making pointless noise. Serif can't use your noise either. Any progression requires input, discussion and often someone opening the window pointing at the the new trends.

Figma is all over the place out there and many other new tools as well. I am involved in two huge projects now - HUGE - involving many specialists of whatever kind. Microsoft Project, Visio, Adobe CC and certainly Affinity... hahaha... is not involved in any way. Nor mentioned. Not even when we get SVG's. We do have licenses for them. No, a lot of tools that support workflows, teams and teams from DIFFERENT COMPANIES to work together and share live during Microsoft Teams meetings are dominating. They replaced software used for decades in a few years. Simply because they support workflows: every kind of workflow, not just sharing or working on same document live. But also creative workflows. 

The biggest hole humans ever digged for themselves is the one you are sitting in and staying in, @haakoo and people like you were demolished and forgotten again and again by creative destruction for as long as there were humans on this planet. And you are inviting Serif to sit with you down there in the hole believing that makes you a friend and partner.

This is the last comment on you and your posts I will make.

EDIT: And now - like before - the kid will add laughing or sad emojies to my posts like a 5-year old.

[Move Along People]

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