Ah, what’s life without an adventure? Adobe puts a FedEx Kinko’s click-through button on the newest versions of Acrobat and Reader and the printing world goes bozo. Millions of Adobe users now have a straight shot to Kinko’s. Unfair competition? Well, maybe – if you are a printer who considers Kinko’s to be a major competitor. Maybe not if you routinely send nickel-and-dime, pain-in-the-neck customers to Kinko’s to get them out of your hair.

The real issue here is Adobe’s short-sightedness. The company should have realized that this would cause an outcry from an industry it has constantly courted. Its Adobe Solutions Network program has been a good marketing tool for printers over the years and gives them $2,400 in software and support for $595. So why didn’t the company take that relationship into account? My take is that this was a case of internal miscommunication at Adobe. A few printers see more sinister things afoot, but I can’t buy that.

My advice? See what comes out of the “summit meeting” at Adobe where printers and association folks will try to work out a way to deal with the situation and then get over it and go out and sell something to somebody.