Not to be outdone by Apple, Microsoft, Sprint and Verizon, the executives at Adobe decided to contribute software to the President's ConnectED initiative. Here's the official press release from Adobe. The ConnectED program is designed to bring computers and Internet connectivity to those in need, particularly in rural America. Now, Adobe will add $300 million worth of software such as Photoshop Elements and Captivate, as well as teacher training to the equation.
I attended a talk by Vice President Joe Biden, the day after the President's State of the Union speech, and the consistent thread was education. I remember using Adobe software, and Apple Macs, throughout college, and two of my classmates went to work for Adobe. Their names show up on the splash screen when Photoshop starts up, in fact! So it's nice to see that Adobe is giving back to schools.
Of course, Adobe gets a tax writeoff, and contributes mostly bits-and-bytes compared to the hardware contributions from Apple, but it's all good. Plus their contribution helps ensure that the next generation of professionals is Adobe literate. Indeed I use Adobe products daily, decades after first using them in school, so Adobe has learned, like Apple and Microsoft, that Education is a great long-term investment.