Adobe-FedEx Kinko’s Brouhaha

There has been quite a brouhaha this week in the printing industry after Adobe announced that it is adding a “send to FedEx Kinko’s” button in Adobe Acrobat and Adobe Reader. Industry associations NAPL and PIA/GATF have been unusually vocal and quick to admonish Adobe. They claim the button creates an unfair business advantage to FedEx Kinko’s and are concerned that document owners, creatives and print buyers would choose FedEx Kinko’s for printing, instead of going through the normal process of choosing a print supplier.

Indeed, the button would make choosing FedEx Kinko’s easy. However, I’m not sure how much of a real threat the button is to printers. I think print buyers and document owners will mostly ignore the button, unless they are planning on buying from FedEx Kinko’s or are curious about their services. What concerns me is that the button is in essence a promotion for the printing/shipping conglomerate. A creative software company, such as Adobe, should be ‘Switzerland’ – neutral to the selection of the print provider. Either that or open it up to other advertisers.

For more industry scoop, see PIA/GATF’s response to Adobe’s decision, here, and be sure to cast your vote about this issue in Print Buyers Online.com’s print buyer or print supplier quick polls. Most important: Tell us what you think. Is it appropriate for Adobe to give any single print supplier a competitive advantage? If Adobe and FedEx move forward with their plan, will it affect what you buy and your use of Adobe’s software? Does this affect Adobe’s integrity?