I was discussing the recent acquisition of Macromedia by Adobe and the conversation turned to the future of Macromedia Flashpaper and Adobe PDF. They basically offer the same solution to portable print documents. One of the questions revolved around the following statement available on Macromedia’s website…

In September 2005, NPD Research conducted a study to determine what percentage of Web browsers have Macromedia Flash pre-installed. The results show that 97.3% of Web users can experience Macromedia Flash content without having to download and install a player.

So when does a study about Web browsers turn into a report on Web users? The two are totally seperate things, and yet you can clearly see the “mealy-mouthed” way that the quote above has twisted a report to make for good advertising and PR.

I think it’s had the opposite effect (on me at least). As a result I wouldn’t personally put a lot of weight on the 97.3% figure (with respect to Web browsers).

The conversation concluded with me expressing an interest in watching what Adobe does with the newly acquired products. I don’t think they’d kill off one (or the other), but I do like the idea of a merged product that offers the good parts from each. Without the PR people stomping all over the place throwing marketing sentences at us like we are all sheep.