Yes, this is most displeasing news fot the user/consumer. The competition between Adobe and Macromedia was not stellar - perhaps they only really clashed where Illustrator met Freehand and where Dreamweaver met GoLive.

Macromedia was Adobe's only rival and competitor and innovation will certainly suffer. Macromedia owns a lot of technology and patents that will be a valuable asset to Adobe for sure and will help stiffle any sprouting competition.

Unless anyone is expecting Quark to provide competition to Adobe