It’s funny, Chris asked me earlier today “are these bootlegged?” No, not a single program I run is bootlegged. But after dealing with Adobe’s authorization scheme for the past 2 hours I’m wishing I just had a bootleg.

My laptop died a few months ago. Since then I haven’t been able to use Photoshop. It’s one of those hassles you know needs to be taken care of, but you also know it’s going to burn an hour (or maybe 3), so you put off until absolutely necessary.

This morning it became necessary. I need to build a poster. So I’ve spent the last 2 hours dealing with Adobe. It’s still not resolved. At one point the guy told me he couldn’t continue the conversation because I couldn’t remember which address I lived at when I registered the software. Seriously? I mean, people move, right? I rattled off a couple of addresses, he wasn’t happy but we powered through it.

OK, so what on earth does this have to do with Clover? For one, this is one of those mundane background things people are forced to waste time on when building a business. You’re learning we love to talk about the mundane, right? But this also gets to the core of the relationship a company builds with its customers. Adobe thinks we’re the enemy and treats us that way (and wastes hours of my time).

So a plea to all of you out there. If we’re ever doing anything at Clover that’s getting you anywhere near as mad as I am at Adobe right now, please please please tell us and give us a chance to make it right. I really really really don’t want to be an Adobe.