WTF is Adobe software?
I'm increasingly having to work with Adobe tools, so I wondered whether I should buy one of the "Creative Suites". The main problem with this (apart from the incredible prices) is working out WTF the software is. Adobe's descriptions of their own software are entirely useless. For each one, I have to go to Wikipedia to find out what it is. Here's a table.
The first paragraph in each case is the first from the product page or the “What is?” page on Adobe's web site. The second paragraph is the first sentence about each product from Wikipedia.
Premiere Pro
Adobe® Premiere® Pro CS5 software offers breakthrough performance for video production, enabling you to work dramatically faster thanks to the revolutionary native 64-bit, GPU-accelerated Adobe Mercury Playback Engine. Work natively with the video formats you want and accelerate production from scriptwriting to editing, encoding, and final delivery.
… a professional, real-time, timeline based video editing software application.
InDesign
Adobe® InDesign® CS5 software provides precise control over typography and built-in creative tools for designing, preflighting, and publishing documents for print, online, or to mobile devices.
… a software application produced by Adobe Systems.
Flash Catalyst
Adobe® Flash® Catalyst™ CS5 software is an approachable new interaction design tool.
… a designers' tool for creation of the user interface for Rich Internet Applications.
Dreamweaver
Adobe® Dreamweaver® CS5 software empowers designers and developers to build standards-based websites with confidence.
… a web development application.
Fireworks
Adobe® Fireworks® CS5 software enables you to create expressive, highly optimized graphics for the web or virtually any device
… a bitmap and vector graphics editor.
Contribute
Adobe® Contribute® CS5 software is a powerful web publishing and website management tool that integrates authoring, reviewing, and publishing in an easy-to-use WYSIWYG HTML editor.
… a WYSIWYG web authoring and content management application that is designed to facilitate collaborative editing of web sites, including workflow management.
Premiere Pro
Adobe® Premiere® Pro CS5 software offers breakthrough performance for video production, enabling you to work dramatically faster thanks to the revolutionary native 64-bit, GPU-accelerated Adobe Mercury Playback Engine.
… a professional, real-time, timeline based video editing software application.
After Effects
Whether you're working in broadcast and film or delivering work online and to mobile devices, Adobe® After Effects® CS5 software enables you to create groundbreaking motion graphics and blockbuster visual effects.
… a digital motion graphics and compositing software
OnLocation
Adobe® OnLocation™ CS5 software, part of Adobe Premiere® Pro CS5, is a powerful, direct-to-disk recording, logging, and monitoring solution - and a key player in your complete script-to-screen workflow.
… a direct-to-disk recording and monitoring software.