Was there a merge that happened between Adobe and Macromedia? Is this beneficial to us users? Please give an opinion regarding this. Thanks!
Merges are bad. It means BOTH companies have a weakness and/or are failing. Case in point: XM merges with Sirius. That means neither of them are doing really well. Fortunately, Adobe bought Macromedia. That was why there wasn't as much press coverage. A merge shakes things up. A buyout usually involves some change, but usually for the better. Google buying YouTube, etc.... now they can bring their technology to YouTube. Adobe buys Macromedia, and a lot more collaboration happens between some very strong products.
They'll be better with Adobe. Think about it. They have the entire codebase of Illustrator, Photoshop, Acrobat, etc to work with now.
the name has already been changed...its not adobe flash player...I really liked both companies before, now I like them better, I use many of their products.
Mergers are not always signs of poor business performance. Sometimes companies will merge because they are so similar and can perform better by working with each other instead of against each other. They can also cut their costs in some cases, such as what could happen with the possible merger between XM and Sirius (they won't have to pay their on-air hosts as much). Sometimes mergers can also happen to let both companies enter each others' industries without any competition from the merging parties. Especially when it helps them to get a leg up on their future competitors in those industries.
It usually indicates a weakness. Merging does not always have a bad result, but it starts because of a bad situation. If XM was doing fabulously, they'd either ignore Sirius or buy them out, and vice-versa. Also, mergers have a reputation of being a hassle for existing customers.
XM and Sirius also have virtually no competition in the satellite radio market either. Their main competition is coming from Internet radio and traditional AM/FM radio. This proposed merger between XM and Sirius is really just a quick way to lower their operating costs (since there's no competition between the two to attract talent to their particular market) and pay their on-air hosts less. Smacks of a monopoly, if you ask me.
It's not a monopoly unless the government enforces it. If there's room for little guys, it's not a monopoly.
Not true. A monopoly (in economic terms) is a situation where you have many buyers going through a sole provider (a seller) to get a product or service. That sole provider will be able to set the price on that product or service, and will also set the barrier to entry so high that others will be unable to enter that market. Government involvement has nothing to do with it. The extent to which the government normally gets involved is usually limited to whether it sponsors the monopoly (like with public utilities) or to break up the company that holds the monopoly in that market (like the US Government did with Standard Oil back in the day, and threatened to break up Microsoft a decade ago).
Google dictionary: monopoly. Every entry mentions many buyers and ONE seller. If there is one seller: 1. The government is protecting them, or 2. They're doing EVERYTHING right, to the point that no one WANTS alternatives. Good for them. To date, #2 has never really existed. Some may have gotten close, but perfection is hard to achieve.
I doubt there will be name changes but it will benefit users! WHY? They are no longer in competition with each other, which means instead of one being better in part of the software and the other being better in the other half. They will have the perfect balance (in theory) and will pull out some amazing products which will keep them at the top and the users still buying the stuff
With regard to #1, as I said, only if there's a government-sponsored monopoly on a product or service, such as with public utilities (in that case, it's usually in the public's best interest to have one provider per area, or so the theory goes). With regard to #2, you yourself said that it's never happened, so why argue the point? Not only that, but we're really starting to steer this thread off-topic. Perhaps a new thread for our insignificant debate is in order? (If you do start a new thread, please PM the link to me.)