Flash CS4 is coming; are you ready?

In case you missed the announcement, Adobe is set to release Creative Suite CS4 - and that includes Flash CS4. The first thing that caught my attention was inverse kinematics, something I'd only seen really work in Toon Boom Studio as far as 2D animation. For Adobe to take Flash into IK is a pretty big step in modernizing the animation techniques available in the program, and as far as I'm concerned, a step in the right direction.

But the second thing that caught my attention was the price tag. Preorder at $699? Didn't I just spend several hundred dollars to upgrade to CS3? What other changes will I have to adapt to, after just getting used to AS 3.0 and the new interface in CS3? As quickly as technology and techniques evolve, it's inevitable that new software releases will come at a rather rapid clip.

But if you ask me, they should come at a more reasonable price, as well.