Can Captivate 9 Save Adobe?

By: Justin Ferriman • August 20, 2015
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9factsIf you haven’t heard yet, Adobe made some news in the elearning industry yesterday.

Specifically, they released their learning management system and Adobe Captivate 9.

I discussed the new Adobe learning management system previously in this article.

I’m interested to see how that one plays out and what the general perception will be from those who use it.

Sure, people that are already using Adobe products will likely just pick their LMS, but I wonder if it will have the ability to pull people away from other system? Time will tell.

Perhaps the more exciting news though is the release of Adobe Captivate 9.

Love & Hate

I have a confession to make: I have a love/hate relationship with Adobe Captivate. Our relationship goes back a long way too as I can recall the days of using Captivate when it was owned by Macromedia.

During those years there weren’t many other alternatives. Articulate wasn’t the juggernaut that it is today, and aside from learning how to program Flash, Macromedia Captivate was your next best option.

Adobe took over Captivate around version 3 or 4 (I cannot recall which one exactly).

Nothing changed.

I spent hours on the phone with their support because of technical glitches up to version 6.

This is why I hated Captivate.

What I loved were the software simulations that I could create and how impressive (and useful) they were for clients. We created simulations for in-person training as well as strictly elearning. For a long time this is where Captivate really shined.

Today the landscape is different. Articulate Storyline allows for simulations as well and many swear by it over Captivate. The prestige Adobe once had in elearning has been fading in recent years – which is why the recent announcement regarding Captivate 9 and their new LMS (Adobe Captivate Prime) come at a critical time.

The Captivate 9 Approach

Immediately you can see from Adobe’s website that Captivate 9 is centered on mobile technology. Everything from mobile content creation, collaboration, and delivery.

This is a natural step, and one that I am pleased to see. I couldn’t imagine trying to develop elearning on a tablet with the old versions.

What makes me nervous is that they advertise importing PowerPoint presentations. Why? Because for years this has been the absolute worst feature in Captivate.

On the bright side, I see that they have incorporated templates from The ELearning Brothers – an industry leading elearning template firm. Smart move in my opinion as there is no sense in reinventing the wheel.

Take it for a Spin

Currently all the promotion behind Adobe Captivate Prime and Captivate 9 lacks any substance. There aren’t actual live videos of the interface, only animations.

Because of this you’ll need to either purchase it or sign-up for their trial (something I will be doing in the coming weeks) in order to see behind the curtain.

I sincerely hope that Adobe’s efforts on this latest release will put them back on track as a major industry player.

Justin Ferriman

Justin started LearnDash, the WordPress LMS trusted by Fortune 500 companies, major universities, training organizations, and entrepreneurs worldwide. He is currently founder & CEO of GapScout. Justin’s Homepage | GapScout | Twitter