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Robert Cringely makes a case for Apple buying Adobe:
What I DO see happening is Apple buying Adobe, which would give it effective dominance of digital content creation and distribution on a global scale. Bruce Chizen suddenly stepped down as Adobe’s CEO without warning: why? A caretaker CEO (my characterization — no slight intended) is in place. Steve has always viewed Adobe co-founder and co-chair John Warnock like a father. Warnock and co-chair Chuck Geschke are losing interest in Adobe day-to-day as they move on with their lives. Acquiring Adobe would make Apple much more of a cross-platform company. The combined professional applications could be placed in the Adobe division of Apple where they could go up in price for some markets, becoming VASTLY more profitable. But most important — keeping in mind the whole purpose here is driving content distribution — merging Flash and QuickTime would make any other video standards (like Windows Media) simply immaterial.
If such an acquisition were to take place it would have to be in 2008 while Avid and Microsoft still present credible competition to keep the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission from opposing such a merger. It would go easier, too, on W’s watch. I knew he was good for something.
Apple
has more than $15 billion in cash and no debt, and Abode’s current
market cap is about $22 billion. Jobs does have a lot of history with
Adobe– Abode PostScript and PhotoShop were critical to the success of
the Mac. A union might make sense on a whiteboard, but it’s hard to
imagine Steve Jobs acquiring something that could be a major management distraction
from the relative simplicity that Apple is now–Mac, iPhone, iPod,
iLife. On the other hand, iAcrobat, iFlash and iPhotoshop could fit in
with where Jobs wants to take Apple. It depends on whether he has the
appetite for another reincarnation of his company.
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This article has 13 comments:
@FreeRange - I agree with the fact that Adobe's app's need to bit of a clean sweep - they're mature in the same way that a grand old house is. They need renovation and electric lights put in...
@spaceage - totally agree - who in their right mind would let go of either companies shares at affordable prices when the market has them so much higher... I mean RSJ would have to sell the farm to get this one across the line...
Photoshop-- Apple could clone it over a long weekend if they chose.
Adobe Reader? -- Apple's Preview is half way towards matching all it's functionality. And Preview is MUCH faster.
Adobe Premiere? Already obsolete, thanks to FCP.
Typical of you Apple Trolls.
How about anything edited by Walter Murch (THE most respected film editor working today) in the last five years. Including "Cold Mountain", "Jarhead", and "Youth Without Youth".
I'm a professional editor that was on AVID for a decade but have seen a massive shift to FCP over the last few years. Apple has all but killed AVID's mid-market business. You have absolutely no idea what you are talking about.
The bit about finally killing Windoze Media has a nice ring to it though. It deserves to be abandoned as the monopoly tool that it is.
And Adobe has been kissing up to the Windoze crowd for awhile now, which makes them a great business target for Apple.
Hmmm, other than Cold Mountain (which bombed and a critical pan), I'd say JArhead and Youth Without Youth proves my point! Movies with names that drip from everyone mouth .... NOT. As I said NAME A MAJOR PRODUCTION, a Major TV show, that was done on FCD! Looks to everyone that only the 2-bit Editors on a shoe string budget use FCP ... oh and all those Wedding and Graduation productions ;^P
Thank you for proving my point, losers.
You Apple Tards are special, what absolute DENIAL, what an absolute INSIGNIFICANT marginal sector of 4% at best (US only). And "Armpti", if I think with my A-Hole, YOU Apple Kool Aid Drinkers have your brains safely tucked up your A-Holes with your heads. Touche again.