Feeding Frenzy Begins in Digital Imaging Marketplace

Looks like the big lumbering fish are swallowing the tasty little fish in the world of digital imaging software.

First, Adobe bites off Rawshooter by Pixmantec. This little software wonder is a great Raw converter with the best workflow for digital photographers. It looks like Adobe is going to dump the RS workflow but copped the color rendering system for its new LightRoom software. This is bad news for users of RawShooter especially those using the free version. Premium users might get an upgrade offer for Lightroom. Some may say Adobe is buying out the competition, burying the intellectual property and dominating the market (a la Microsoft). Then we end up with blah products, packed with useless features, but stifling to the user. Where else do we go? Apple's Aperture? It's good and has scared the life out of Adobe but the overall product is not there yet plus no Windows version.

I can't help but think this is more of a corporate move to bolster Adobe's sagging stock. Earlier this year it rocketed up to around $41.00 a share then plummeted back to under $30.00.

Next, the biggest shark of them all, Microsoft chomps down on iView, a pretty decent digital asset management (DAM) system. Photographic assets are exploding everywhere and keeping them organized in a mind-boggling task. At our office many of the laptops are flooded with personal and business photographs. One sales rep had over 40 gigs of pictures on his drive. So it looks like Microsoft is making a play to improve the DAM in their core imaging product . iView also has workflow features as well.

My hope is that innovation and competition will continue in the digital imaging and workflow software space. No longer does the Adobe or Microsoft logo on a product ensure that it is the best in its class. It only means it's the biggest.

Copyright 2006 James D. Fisher
All Rights Reserved.