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© 2000 by Rick Altman. All Rights Reserved.
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As an author and conference host of Corel products for more than a decade, I know that writing this will have an impact on many of you. It flatters me that some of you use my activities as a barometer for the state and the health of Corel software. I do not take that responsibility lightly — Rick Altman
Our June Article of the Month comes on the heels of several significant announcements made by leaders at Corel Corporation and independent observers:
May 10: Corel executives announce that they will run out of operating capital if the proposed merger with Borland/Inprise does not go through.
May 17: Merger called off by both sides.
May 18: Industry analysts predict that Corel will run out of cash within weeks or even days.
May 19: Shares in Corel stock drop by nearly 20%.
May 20: President Michael Cowpland insists that Corel’s financing on solid footing.
May 21: Newsgroups awash with speculation and predictions about future of CorelDRAW and VENTURA Publisher.
May 25: Analysts and news reports estimate that as many as 400 jobs might need to be eliminated from Corel’s workforce of 1,500.
May 26: Company arranges alternate financing
to alleviate immediate cash crunch.
May 27: Share price drops by another 20%.
I have been doing business with Corel Corp. since 1989—to my knowledge, there are two people in the organization who pre-date my involvement, one of them being the president, Mike Cowpland. Through the best of times and the worst of times, my confidence in the software and Corel’s ability to produce it superceded all other considerations.
I no longer hold this confidence. Corel’s leaders seem to have lost their way in the graphics niche and appear disconnected from their users. It might be time for Corel to concede that it lacks the breadth to be caretaker of CorelDRAW and VENTURA Publisher.
This would be, at the same time, profoundly ironic and tragic. As most of us know, Corel got its start in VENTURA’s orbit, and enjoyed its finest hour in the DRAW heyday of 1992 and 1993. Back then, Corel’s focus on these products was unswerving, its aim on the market deadly, and its ability to strike quickly breathtaking.
It was incredible to watch. Because so much of this stems from the vision of its leader, Cowpland, Corel might prove capable of displaying all of these qualities again; the problem is that the company’s focus is not on its graphics applications. Most of its focus is on a product that the mainstream is not yet using (Linux), while its secondary focus is on a product that is destined to live in the shadow of Microsoft (WordPerfect). With Corel reporting significant losses and announcing vast layoffs, there will be little bandwidth remaining for the products that actually have the most defined niche (DRAW and VENTURA).
The second point of irony is that most users appear to be unfazed by this, and remain as optimistic as ever about their relationships with the software. DRAW 9 and VENTURA 8 have each settled into a nice comfortable place on your system, and they both work more or less as expected. Most users form their impression and attitude of the company based largely on the condition of the software. They like the software, so all is well.
Would that it be this simple.
First, let’s talk about you. CorelDRAW users make up a fascinating minority as Windows-based users of graphics software. You probably feel the heat of not using a Mac just about every day. But you love the software, you love that it runs on your preferred platform, and you love the community that has grown up around it, with newsgroups, mailing lists, learning events, and Web sites like this one. Mac users of DRAW 8 also carry around the yoke of difference, as most of their colleagues use Illustrator or Xpress.
You have made a significant investment—if not financial, then definitely emotional—and you deserve a company that will work hard for your investment. You deserve a company that devotes significant resources to making you feel comfortable about your investment.
And you deserve more than that. You deserve a company that is committed to making the software as good as it possibly can be. You deserve a company that will miss no opportunity to extol the virtue of its software and leave no chance untaken to convert a user to DRAW or VENTURA.
In short, you deserve better than Corel has shown a willingness or ability to give. And with the company likely to eliminate a few positions—from product marketing, customer support, and almost certainly from engineering, as well—it’s not likely that Corel can deliver what its graphics customers want or need.
Next, let’s talk about DRAW. This program remains one of the most powerful, most efficient, and most intelligently-designed graphics programs around. It made its mark as a consumer-oriented tool, it is used by millions of Windows users world-wide, and has been a haven for those who didn’t grow up as artists. In the mid-1990s, Corel marketed this as the program’s strength and grew the software to phenomenal heights. Today, however, Corel is trying to live down the rap that DRAW is a tool for amateurs.
We wonder why. What’s so bad about being a tool for the masses? There are more non-artists than artists in the world today using graphics software—that seems like a pretty good niche. Over 70% of all DRAW users do not have professional backgrounds in the arts and yet Corel spends undo effort trying to stem the tide of the Mac users and the Adobe loyalists who have turned their noses at DRAW. Who cares?? We’re not going to get them into the Corel fold no matter what—why try so hard to appeal to them?
Don’t misunderstand—Corel has infused DRAW with top-notch PostScript output, high-grade color support, and a professional set of tools. CorelDRAW is every bit the equal of Illustrator and PHOTO-PAINT, with few exceptions, the equal of Photoshop. And Corel’s strides to bridge the gap between the software and the service bureau industry is well-intentioned, as that will open up many new avenues of business for the software. We applaud these efforts and root for the developers to continue to create software at the highest levels of the professional standard.
It’s not development that is askew; it is product positioning. Chasing after the Adobe user is just as Quixotic as trying to convert the Office user to WordPerfect. DRAW is the ideal candidate to be seen as the software for the masses—the program that can create top-notch output, but at the same time be inviting to first-time and casual users. Microsoft has succeeded with that very strategy with PhotoDraw and Publisher, two programs vastly-inferior to DRAW and VENTURA.
Next, let’s talk about VENTURA, the best publishing program you’re not using—to this day one of the most powerful applications ever written for a personal computer. Of all of the programs that Corel owns, VENTURA might enjoy the widest advantage against the competition. In many aspects, nothing even comes close to VENTURA in the electronic publishing space. But few know, few care, or worse, few know why they should care. Corel has done next-to-nothing to market this incredible jewel of a program, and when it has tried, it has done so in the retail space, not the corporate or professional space.
More irony here, because Corel was like the knight in shining armor, rescuing VENTURA from imminent peril in the mid-1990s. Much of the credit goes to Cowpland himself, who has always had a soft spot for the program and doesn’t want to see it die.
Unfortunately, it has been kept alive at subsistence level, with a skeleton crew of developers, very little operating budget, and no marketing budget to speak of. To the loyalists (and we count ourselves among them), life support is better than no life at all, but there are few options in-between. Corel cannot sell just VENTURA to a third party because the program shares too much code with DRAW. With common print, I/O, and color engines, the two programs are joined at the electronic hip.
The final piece of irony is the fact that Corel is the only company in the graphics space that owns all of the tools of creation. Corel can start you off with word processing and take you through graphic content, image editing, and full-scale production. No other company can claim this, yet Corel has never made an effort to exploit this. Its focus is elsewhere. And its customers deserve better.
I began writing this article before the collapse of the Borland/Inprise deal, and in this particular paragraph, I wondered out loud if the deal would serve our interests. The merger would have improved Corel’s cash position, no doubt, but where would that cash have gone? The Inprise deal was all about Linux, and Corel banks its future on Linux. That deal might only have served to prolong the inevitable, whereas maybe it would be better if we face the inevitable right now:
Maybe it’s time for Corel to sell its graphics products.
Perhaps the wisest and most compassionate move that Corel can make for its ever-loyal graphics users is to provide a better home for them. Find a company that is better positioned to develop and market software in this niche.
Now it doesn’t have to come to that. There are plenty of companies that have hired outside turnaround artists and allowed that person to downsize, right-size, refocus, rechannel, and rejuvenate the organization and its products. Our offices are just a couple of football fields away from Apple’s corporate offices in Cupertino, CA, so we don’t have to look too far to see an example of how that can work.
But Cowpland won’t hear of it. He would never relinquish that kind of control. The power at Corel is as centralized as you could possibly imagine and it has always been that way. Everyone works for Cowpland. And while his skills as an entrepreneur are legendary, the same cannot be said for his grasp of the graphics community, at least not anymore. He is too far removed from it, but at the same time is unwilling to turn the reins over to someone with more business savvy in that area.
But something has to give. Corel’s revenue streams are either tapped out (DRAW and WordPerfect) or not yet tapped (Linux), and the company spends over $3 million per week just on its payroll. You can’t fault Cowpland for gambling on Linux—lots of people are—but unless he is willing to spin off the graphics and/or business applications and let someone else have at them (and he’s not), they will languish in the Linux shadow.
And it is for this reason that this article would be appearing here today even if the Inprise deal had gone through. That merger would have changed nothing, except to have made the company even more Linux-centric. CorelDRAW might become a fine application under Linux, but not anytime soon, and time is running out on Corel’s options.
Which companies might be candidates to receive Corel’s graphics applications? We can’t pretend to know, although a few names inevitably surface without too much effort…
Adobe: Long linked to Corel by takeover rumors, it is unlikely that Adobe would take interest, and if it did, it might just scavenge the code for any morsels that it could place in its existing apps. Root against this scenario—its worst case is pretty bad.
Macromedia: This ultra-progressive software maker is so tightly focused it routinely kills off its own programs. Chances are almost nil that Macromedia would take a flyer on Corel’s graphics apps.
Xerox: How’s this for the height of irony? (Xerox sold Ventura Publisher to Corel when it could no longer advance the software). Xerox calls itself The Document Company—that fits nicely with the Corel demographic. The IBM-Lotus arrangement might be the model for Xerox.
Quark: We can already hear the collective groan, and we would add our own vocals to those who feel disdain for this consumer-unfriendly organization. But the fact is that this company knows graphics, is privately held, and could use some complementary apps to Xpress to compete with Adobe. Quark’s takeover flirtation of Adobe last year was laughable; this one would not be.
JASC: While this software manufacturer probably doesn’t have three or four hundred million dollars lying around (our guesstimate of the purchase price of DRAW and VENTURA), they represent the kind of company that could make a success of DRAW and VENTURA. With Paint Shop Pro, they enjoy a nice reputation as a niche player in the graphics space, they have talented developers, and they are ready to play a bigger game. They have the energy and the know-how to take the CorelDRAW universe and expand it by 1 or 2 percent. To Corel Corp., that kind of increase wouldn’t register on the radar screen, but to a small, graphics-only business, the tiniest increase in market share would be significant. MGI Soft is another company in this same mold; we’re sure there are others, too.
This kind of speculation is premature, but it has already begun, both at the executive levels and on the newsgroups. We’ll get flack from Corel for fueling these fires, but they will burn on, with or without us.
And now let’s talk about us. Let’s talk about me. Longtime readers have known me too long to expect idle spin in this space, and this article is evidence of that. (I agonized for days about the wisdom and appropriateness of publishing this, for fear it would create anxiety among those who were otherwise unaware of Corel’s current situation). It’s not our job to put a good face on Corel’s cash crisis, but in the same breath, I must state unequivocally that I do not consider this a death knell for Corel users. There are so many DRAW users on the planet they create overwhelming critical mass. In other words, there are too many of us around for the software simply to evaporate. And if a divestiture were to come to pass, it might actually be the best possible news for current users.
What a fascinating and scary position I have woven for myself. Here I am pondering the notion of Corel divesting itself of DRAW and VENTURA, while I owe a significant chunk of my business to those very products. This either makes me the most credible spokesperson on this subject or the most stupid…maybe both.
In particular, at stake for us is our annual CorelWORLD User Conference. Do the math: over 300 people spend an average of $600 in conference fees—that’s not chump change for a small business such as ours. In times like these, CorelWORLD becomes more important than ever, in the face of whatever awaits CorelDRAW and VENTURA:
If Corel holds onto DRAW and VENTURA, there will be plenty of questions about how it will recover from its current predicament. Corel officials will offer their take on the situation and hearing this from them will be vital. Equally invaluable, however, will be the viewpoints of the people who have been independent spokespeople for the community for over a decade. People like Jim Hart, who used to work for Xerox and has followed VENTURA forever…Gary Priester, who made his mark as a world-class illustrator by using DRAW…David Huss, the PHOTO-PAINT author and artist who now writes a column for i/us on the graphics scene…Daniel and Sally Grotta, who cover digital photography and imaging for PC Magazine…Steve Rindsberg, who has been using graphics software to output slides via PostScript since before “desktop publishing” was coined. These people all have important opinions on what would be best for Corel and its users, and at CorelWORLD they will be asked to share those opinions with everyone.
If Corel divests itself of these programs, bet the bank that we’re going along for the ride. We’ll be the first ones knocking on the new door, and our podiums will be ready to receive the new custodians of the software. [______]WORLD 2000 might become the most important event ever for users who would otherwise feel lost in the shuffle.
Regardless of the scenario, users seem to agree with us, as early registrations are running higher than they have been in the previous six years. (And we are reminded of how high attendance was at MacWorld during the crisis years of the mid-1990s.) We are gratified that Corel users seem to know they can count on our newsletter and our conference to remain the independent voice that speaks directly and completely to the interests of the users. As long as the software is still in use, that will be our mission statement.
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We’re not quite ready to tell you “Don’t worry, be happy,” but we sincerely believe that DRAW and VENTURA own enough momentum to continue, and in fact, prosper under the right guidance. We hope Corel can provide this guidance, as it did so magnificently in the early- and mid-1990s.
But if not, then it must come from elsewhere. The needs of the software and the interests of those who use it must be Priority No. 1. That is how it used to be, and that is how it must be again.
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Copyright 2000, All rights reserved. Have an opinion? Share it with the Corel community at the CorelWORLD Forum. There is already quite a bit of discussion about this story. Join in...
May 2007: As simple as possible, but not simpler... · April 2007: Killer Keystrokes · March 2007: Resolution Confusion · January 2007: Fearless Forecasts for 2007 · November 2006: Epiphanies at PowerPoint Live 2006 · August 2006: Escaping Death by PowerPoint · July 2006: Notes from the Floor of InfoComm · June 2006: Beyond PowerPoint--Making Movies for Business and Pleasure, Part II · May 2006: Beyond PowerPoint--From Photos to DVDs · April 2006: It’s Your Music!--Overcoming the oppressive restrictions of iTunes · March 2006: CorelDraw X3—A few must-haves and a few missed opportunities, all in all, a credible upgrade · February 2006: Making Windows Inhabitable · January 2006: Fearless Forecasts for 2006 · September 2005: Just What is a Background Anyway? · August 2005: Meet David Dobson, Corel's New CEO · July 2005: Community, Blind Dates. and Albert Einstein: An Interview with the PowerPoint Live Conference Host · June 2005: CorelWorld 2005: Image Editors, Executive Appearances, and Krispy Kremes · May 2005: As Adobe's Shadow Grows, Is Corel Better off or Worse? · March 2005: Delivering Your Presentation: How Close to the Source Can You Get? · February 2005: Digital Photography: The Killer App of this Generation Part II · January 2005: Digital Photography: The Killer App of this Generation · November 2004: A Killer Deal for Corel Or Another Distraction? · September 2004: The Scourge that is Kazaa and AOL Instant Messenger · August 2004: The Golden Triangle: Presenter, Audience, and Slides · July 2004: A Blast from the Past: How Fast is Fast Enough? · June 2004: Guilty Pleasures · May 2004: A Personal Wish List for PowerPoint 12 · April 2004: Eyedropping: Version 12 makes a good tool even better... · March 2004: Deadly Sins Of Modern PowerPoint Usage · February 2004: Is the even-numbered curse finally over? · January 2004: Another take on Achieving Absence of Ugliness · November 2003: What can we do it again??--Debut of PowerPoint Live Leaves Unquenchable Thirst with the Host · September 2003: Corel Corp. Has a New Custodian · July 2003: Candor and Contrition at CorelWORLD · June 2003: What a Long, Great Trip It’s Been! · May 2003: The Boat that Corel is Missing · April 2003: No Fooling...Is Corel Breaking Up? · March 2003: The Annual Design-a-Brochure Contest · February 2003: Symbolism is Everything · January 2003: Mania, Our Semi-Annual Pilgrimage to Holland · October 2002: On Creativity, Problem-Solving, and Paper Bags · July 2002: CorelDRAW 11: Surprise, Surprise... · May 2002: The Sound of Silence: What does it mean when a company plays its cards so close to its chest? · April 2002: The Art and Science of Presentation Graphics--Creating for the Screen Has its own Challenges · March 2002: CorelDRAW 11: What kind of personality and attitude should a software program have today? · February 2002: Oy, my aching fingers... · December 2001: Digital Photography · November 2001: Can we say goodbye to the Rolls Royce Mentality? · October 2001: An Unforgettable Week: The drama that unfolded around CorelWORLD · August-September 2001: The Art of Paragraphics: New-age ingredients for success with Corel VENTURA · July 2001: Your Very Own Interface: How to make Corel applications read your mind · June 2001: Fighting the Font Wars: How to stay sane with your sans · May 2001--Turning the Key at Nicholas-Applegate · April 2001--A Modest Proposal for Reviving VENTURA Publisher
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Mastering CorelDRAW 9
