To say that I was surprised ...
7 Reasons For Apple To Acquire Adobe
There has been a lot of talk about Apple’s aggressive stance towards Adobe lately. For years now the two companies have been on less than friendly terms with each other over several issues. Lately they’ve bickered about the alleged bugginess of Flash.
According to Steve Jobs, Flash is responsible for most crashes on the Mac and uses abnormal amounts of processing power which would drain the battery of any mobile device. Before that Apple and Adobe fought over licensing issues regarding PDF files and the slow pace with which Adobe updates is applications.
With everybody falling over each other to come up with reason for Apple’s tough talk I decided to add my own conspiracy theory: I think Steve wants to own Adobe and Apple will acquire Adobe somewhere in 2010.
I agree it seems a far stretch that this will happen. But if it does happen it certainly will explain a few things. If Apple does acquire Adobe and fix Flash it would find itself in a very interesting position. It could open source Flash, make it compatible with HTML5 and fix the bugs and security issues. It could add Flash to Quicktime (or vice versa).
Consider for a moment all those mobile device builders around the world realizing they would now have talk to Apple (their arch enemy) regarding licensing iFlash from them. Exactly the kind of position that Steves loves to be in.
If I’m right about this I expect to be awarded for my insight. if I’m wrong, well, who reads old blogposts anyway.
So, here is my list of reason why it is only logical that Apple will acquire Adobe:
1: It is cheap and affordable
Adobe hasn’t been doing too bad in recent years but certainly not as well as Apple. It has a market cap of about 18 billion and change. Apple has $25 billion in cash in the bank and a market cap of 190 billion. Apple could buy Adobe with stock and some cash and not even blink. Imagine the power, influence and freedom it would get them.
2: It would give them Photoshop and Illustrator
Photoshop and Illustrator are so called killer Apps for The Apple Macintosh. Without it a lot of designers, architects and other creative professionals would have no reason to buy a Mac. If Apple owned these applications they could redesign their flawed interfaces, optimize them for the Mac Pro and iPad and make sure they work seamlessly with all the other Professional Apple Apps.
3: So Apple could fix Flash, save the day and look smart
Steve contents that Flash sucks and is outdated technology. What if he suddenly owned that technology? I’d like to believe that Apple has a fix ready for Flash that would suddenly make it reliable, power efficient and secure. They would launch this new iFlash version (built into Quicktime no doubt) within a month or two and also add it to the iPhone and iPad. How cool would they look by not only adding a perfectly working version of Flash customized to Apple’s own products but also to desktops Macs and PCs.
4: Because they told us they would
Apple has made no secret about its desire to use its cash reserve to do acquisitions. It also stated that it won’t just do that to add revenue to their bottom line but also for strategic reasons. Adobe is a healthy company and would easily bring in a few billion a year. Especially if Steve would fire everybody as he morphs the company into Apple. And besides the cash it would bring in there are all the other reason that make it logical to own Adobe.
5: To become less depending on third parties
Once upon a time Apple took a small investment and Microsoft’s assurance that it would keep developing MS Office for the Mac. You could argue that if Microsoft would have stopped offering Office for Mac it would have seriously hurt the platform. Without the main applications (the Adobe and Microsoft applications) the Mac would be a lot less useful. The same goes for Adobe. If it would stop offering its applications for the Mac a lot of designers and photographers would HAVE to switch to the PC to do their work. Apple has alleviated some of that risk by developing iPhoto and then Apperture but it still needs Photoshop and Illustrator. Basically it depends on Adobe to keep making great versions of its software for the Mac. And Steve doesn’t like to depend on anyone and had made it clear he has little respect for Adobe.
6: To fix Adobe’s crazy pricing
I have an official Adobe package which includes Photoshop, Illustrator, DreamWeaver and a few more Adobe Apps. If I want to upgrade it I am charged € 906.29. Yes, that is JUST for the upgrade. Now I know that these applications are really great, but seriously, € 906.29 for just an Upgrade? Apperture is $199.00 for the full package. That is not the Upgrade price but the full package. Just the Photoshop upgrade price is € 296.31! I imagine Apple would offer Photoshop for $199 with upgrades priced at $99. At € 906.29 I’m seriously considering just pirating the software. At $199 I am sure a LOT more people would avoid the hassle of illegal downloads. Once upon a time the Adobe prices were defendable. In the age of $1 Apps and sub $1000 laptops this is no longer the case. As an independent company Adobe can’t just slice the prices of their flagship applications. But as a part of Apple it can.
7: Because Steve is crazy
Okay, Steve Jobs isn’t really crazy. But he IS unpredictable, power hungry, filthy rich and very influential. Adding Adobe to Apple would make Apple a lot less dependent on Adobe. It would also give Apple new leverage with everybody who uses Flash right now. Adobe is just too important for the future of Apple to ignore it. So why not just buy it? By spreading the word that Adobe is a troubled company that can’t manage their own products well Apple will look good when it ’saves’ the company later by buying it.
Of course Apple doesn’t need Flash or Adobe. It is currently very actively pushing HTML5 which might completely replace Flash one day. It already has on Youtube and numerous other websites. Still, there is a lot to gain for Apple if it did one day decide to buy Adobe.
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8. So they could apply for some ludicrously high level patents and then continue in their campaign of aggressiveness while idiotic Apple fanboys continue to cheer from the sidelines too bloody stupid to note how their darling has turned into the worlds nastiest Megacorp
This will not happen for the simple reason that spending 75% of your cash reserve on acquiring a dying technology (Flash) is a suicidal move. That's without counting in the massive integration cost of such an acquisition. And that in the middle of a recession?
While I love the notion – I dont think it will happen. Why? Because of the appstore. The same reason there is no flash on the ipad. Flash apps are usually free which makes it hard to make money from them.
That said, it wouldn't be completely impossible to make money from them and it would mean MANY, MANY more people could make apps. Fingers crossed I suppose.
You are smoking a lot of Apple propaganda wacky tobacky my friend! Apple “open source” flash! Ha! They'd kill it, because it opens the world to free video / game content. It'd KILL the itunes store!! (Which android will do on phones when the flash player is released soon!)
I can't believe I have to trot this out again, but HTML5 will NEVER take the position flash has. For one simple reason: The LACK OF A COMPLEX WYSIWYG EDITOR. Flash has been in development for over ten years, and has a 90% saturation. Get a grip! The apple fanboy html5 is better mantra was just propaganda given from the apple top down, to dissuade people from wanting to use flash, because Apple's controlling the purse strings, by not letting their users have it. Think of the number of flash programmers out there, that can DRAW ANIMATION in flash, program an entire game with rich graphics (even 3d!) -or do complex database integration, write whole applications..display video, play free audio.. the list goes on. Flash is very powerful, and it's too powerful for Apple to ignore, so they put out these lies to their userbase? It's shameful!
The fact that “flash is responsible for crashes” on osx is also a total falicy. I'd really like to see some actual, factual numbers on that.
This report is pandering to Apple's disinformation war on Flash, or supremely uninformed, one of the two!
plus the names are so alike:
apple
adobe
Well, it's an interesting idea, but “fix the pricepoint?” have you looked into the pricing of for example Apple's Final Cut Pro/Studio, which I think compares better with Photoshop and Illustrator… Apperture might be a 'pro' app, but hardly as complex or extensive as either of the previously mentioned programs.
Fixing Flash? I doubt Apple has any interested in Flash. Even if they would 'fix' it and it would run perfectly on the Mac, they still won't like it for commercial reasons: if they should then support it on their mobile devices, on which it would open up the development and compete with their App Store.
Even if they would want to 'fix' or integrate it – that would take a LOT more time than 2 months. Make it 2 years and I might bite. Just the integration of Adobe in Apple would take up longer than that.
It giving them Photoshop and Illustrator indeed is a very good point, but if Apple would buy Adobe, it would be an agressive buy-out – since the 2 companies aren't exactly good friends at the moment. The major problem is that Apple isn't the only-one with a huge cash-reserve. I doubt Microsoft would just sit at the sideline and watch this happen – Adobe might even call out for their help. The relation between Apple and another big-shot, Google, is also rapidly becoming more and more hostile. This could become a very dirty fight between Apple and companies that don't want to see Apple in an even more controlling position. Also, if Apple's plan would fail, this could end up to be be very bad for them. Adobe completely halting Mac development suddenly becomes a pretty realistic scenario – and that's something Apple simply won't risc. Even if Apple would succeed, it would result in a lot of collateral damage.
Another point against this whole idea is the fact that Apple's point of view has always been 'less is more' when it comes down to product lines. They like to focus on their core-businesses. All the companies they acquired in the past fitted in a bigger picture – right in their existing or upcoming product line. Buying Adobe would suddenly add a lot of products that aren't really Apple. All software companies they bought focussed on one, and only one product or technology, making it easier to integrate and adapt to their needs.
Regarding crazy prices:
You obviously don't have a clue what software developing is and what the costs and revenues are. Besides, look at competitor prices. Adobe is cheap for most products (agree, not all). For the price or Quark Express, you can have a package containing InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator and Acrobat Professional.
Costs of software on a workstation in general is a very small part of the IT costs.
Regarding Flash, I disagree. Flash should be phased out. It is simply annoying and nowadays unnecessary. I see in the other comments that more people feel that way.
Apple becoming less dependent of third parties: than Apple goes in the same direction as what people Microsoft always accuse of. Actually, Apple is worse most of the time (except that most usability and software has a much higher quality with the exception of QuickTime which is a virus) as it is even more closed than many of the other software companies, including Microsoft.
Regarding crazy prices:
You obviously don't have a clue what software developing is and what the costs and revenues are. Besides, look at competitor prices. Adobe is cheap for most products (agree, not all). For the price or Quark Express, you can have a package containing InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator and Acrobat Professional.
Costs of software on a workstation in general is a very small part of the IT costs.
Regarding Flash, I disagree. Flash should be phased out. It is simply annoying and nowadays unnecessary. I see in the other comments that more people feel that way.
Apple becoming less dependent of third parties: than Apple goes in the same direction as what people Microsoft always accuse of. Actually, Apple is worse most of the time (except that most usability and software has a much higher quality with the exception of QuickTime which is a virus) as it is even more closed than many of the other software companies, including Microsoft.
The only reason for Apple to do this if Adobe would threaten to stop their Mac version of software, which they would not do as they would lose revenue. So, it won't happen.
When Adobe is up for sale or merger, I believe it is going to be Google there upfront. The simple reason is that's their best way to get into the desktop tools market instead of developing them inside their premises. It's gonna save lots of time and my dream of a Google TV won't be that far away. ;)
Um thats easy, to make even more precious money!
Jess
http://www.fbi-logging.at.tc
You have no idea what you're talking about.
Ever heard of Java? It can do Similar things that flash does. So if Apple buys Adobe and “fixes” Flash there will be just more Java Crap out there.
I know that flash is better for Animations and surely plays Movies better. But HTML5 will “fix” the Movie thing and there are some Libs out there for Java which add Animation and Stuff.
Still Java is a Memory and Performance Hog, but then this got fixed in the Past with Javascript. When flash gets “fixed/bought” and everybody has to pay high Licence Fees I´m sure this will happen again.
Actually I think this would be the best.
“Photoshop and Illustrator are so called killer Apps for The Apple Macintosh. Without it a lot of designers, architects and other creative professionals would have no reason to buy a Mac.”
These apps are no reason to buy a Mac because they are cross-platform. What you mean is that Apple should buy Adobe so that these apps could be withdrawn from the Windows platform. That's exactly what Apple would do.
This isn't an interesting discussion, it's a money maker for you and your 7 reasons are garbage. No one is obligated to provide free content for you in response to your lame attempts.
just by responding proves it interests you… or you're weird. I think it is a very interesting point, i'd love to see it happens because I love my mac, but it would be a big waste of money. Like you said, apple doesn't need adobe and I'm sure there are better investments. Apple acquiring Flash technology is not logic in my point of view, cause one reason they dont want it on the iphone is to control the development of mobile applications. It's pretty easy to make a 3d game in Flash compare to Iphone SDK, don't you think ? Anyway, Adobe is not Apple's primary enemy, I'm thinking about Google here and they'll use all the cash to win this battle.
Sorry but the one I disagree with most, as well as the Photoshop also being the “killer app” for mac, would be the fixing of the prices. Buy Final Cut Studio, and you will not be complaining about the price for one app from Adobe.
The reason why they don't slice the price on most of their apps, is that it is marketed for the business, where money is not that much of an issue, and pirating has severe consequences as large firms would not be able to convince every one of its employee's not to 'tattle-tale'.
Kaaaching!!!
What?
Just as a technical note, AA meetings are run by Alcoholics.
3. Apple is more likely to write their own versions of the graphics editing suites than to just buy Adobe (a la Final Cut Pro).
Final Cut was not originally developed by Apple, see the Wikipedia entry on it. Neither was Logic; I had version 4 and 5 for Windows before the company was bought by Apple. So there are certainly precedents for the move suggested here.
Interesting take on this possibility. Have to say, Adobe's Post-Script technology was the killer technology that spawned Illustrator and their type library. InDesign are indispensable as well.
@Joris – consider this: I have more invested in site licenses of Adobe products than Apple hardware in my small design company. And why I could never switch platforms – I'd have to rebuy about 10k of typefaces not to mention several CS upgrades. This is not copied behavior. There are practical reasons for me sticking with the Mac OS and why certain people wear certain types of clothing.
Apple doesn't want to put flash on the iPad. Multi-tough displays just differ too much from computer displays. Read this article by a flash dev on why the iPad doesn't support flash:
http://www.roughlydrafted.com/2010/02/20/an-ado...
Apple cant do this
I've got three reasons: US Federal Trade Commission, Department of Justice, and the European Union Directorate-General for Competition. If any of those three government bodies were to put a stop to a merger/acquisition between Adobe and Apple, it would be the EU, but all three could potentially raise concerns.
Jon, he was not contesting the fact AA meetings are run by Alcoholics… He said “is like a drunk leading an AA meeting.” So technically you failed.
Monumentally dull-witted speculation.
Adobe has a poison pill that will dilute share value should there be a hostile take over. Remember a few years back when Quark tendered a cash offer for Adobe? This is why they couldn't go ahead and do that.
Shareholders and Adobe's leadership would not agree to a sale. There is little value in being part of Apple for them when the bulk of Adobe's revenue comes from the Windows side of the house.
Apple is more likely, or just as likely, to buy Sony.
Apple is more likely, or just as likely, to buy Sony.
Apple is more likely, or just as likely, to buy Sony.
html5 kills your theory, sorry
It's cheaper just to upgrade everything to be compatible to html5. And Apple can spend it's money to acquire muuuuuch smaller companies to help with it's intergrated apps such as mapping or just trademarks and copyrights.
The only downside with this, is that Apple will stop supporting Flash for Linux. At least Adobe has recently kept Flash on par for Linux.
8. Because someone else could buy Adobe and and Apple could find itself in a TRULY adversarial relationship with the latest version of Photoshop for Mac the last.
Here's an eighth reason….
So, Microsoft isn't able to do it.
HTML5 and CSS 3 ARE quite powerful tools. If you add in some JavaScript or a JavaScript framework like MooTools, jQuery, or Prototype, there's a whole lot you can do that could easily replace flash sometime in the near future. There are already tools that look like Flash, but are actually powered by currently available languages, and a competent programmer (okay, maybe a team of them) could easily build a WYSIWIG editor like you mentioned. If Adobe is smart, they'll get their Flash team working on a way to export Flash files as HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript in some way that it would work well across each browser. They could even have it default to the actual Flash file if the browser doesn't support HTML5 or CSS3 (*coughcoughIE6WILLNEVERDIEcough*).
All I know is that with degrees in web design and computer science on the way, if Adobe doesn't step up to the plate and build a WYSIWIG, then I know what I'm doing as soon as I graduate.
Seems to me you left out the most important reason: ipad will be about media convergence: combining books with magazines, newspapers, tv and internet. Currently adobe seems to have the best tools to create these new types of media. This tooling will be very important for the success of the iPad. Slowing down the availability of these tools for other tablets will give apple an advantage.
Please… leave Adobe alone
Eric, Jon's technical note was correct because the writer was trying to make an analogy using AA as an example of how a person/company shouldn't try to fix another person/company when they themselves have the same problem. As you can see, since AA works, the statement actually proves the opposite point–so technically, you sir, are the failure.
Boris,
Look at http://reymayson.com/blog/posts/why-apple-fight...
It seems that Flash Ad Market Share may become the 8th reason.
Apple bought Final Cut and did not write it from scratch. It's so easy to dismiss Adobe and so just create another Photoshop… if it were so easy…
InDesign has changed over the last few years. I can export to XML, or even to Dreamweaver and I can save my InDesign pages as movie clips to be opened and edited in Flash. I can also make a page flip as a swf straight out of InDesign.
weakest shit I heard this year. adobe is led ill-willed with their extra large portfolio and therefore they stopped being innovative and became slow in operations like most companies of that size. its huge, its lame and no one wants to be bound to something like that, especially not the clever guys at apple. they would build their own photoshop before they buy this company… its cheaper …
Yeah, because if Apple bought Adobe then the price of the suite would definitely go down. We all know Apple never charge a ridiculous premium for anything, right?
I have no problem with Actionscript as a language, and I believe it's pretty useful. My problem is with the necessity to install a browser plugin to view pages. I don't believe that creating a page with Flash and Actionscript is too terribly different from creating a “webpage” in Java and then having it as a Java applet sitting on the page. Both require you to download something other than the browser to view, and both become inaccessible to people without that download. Flash would obviously win in terms of speed and whatnot, but the point is that it isn't easily accessible to some users.
I can't find where I said that a WYSIWYG could be developed QUICKLY, but I do still believe that it could be developed fairly easily.
I didn't know that CS5 was adding that sort of functionality (and to think I'm wasting my time learning CS4!), but I did hear something about a tool that would export Flash files as iPhone apps? Maybe I'm wrong about that (and I wouldn't be surprised if I was), but if that's what it is, Objective-C and HTML5/CSS3 are pretty far from the same thing.
About Flash Player crashing my browsers… Flash Player is quite a resource hog, especially on the Mac. I know more recent versions of Flash Player are better about it, but if I've got open more than two or three programs (which all work fine together), and then try to play a Flash video or something, my entire computer will come to a grinding halt until I terminate the offending process, which is always the browser playing the Flash video. Note that this happens on most of my computers (with the Mac being the worst offender, not the ONLY offender). It also happens with plain Flash videos (ones with no code in them), meaning if there's a for loop that has no ending, it's either a bug in Flash or in Flash Player that caused it, not the person who created the video.
I was kind of implying that if no one has developed a WYSIWYG by the time I graduate (which I honestly believe would be insane), that I would get to work coding one. So I wouldn't really be writing HTML5 and CSS3 exactly… I'd be writing in some compiled language, and it would spit out HTML5 and CSS3 based on user input, just like Flash does with .swf files.
The whole point I'm trying to make is something you said yourself. “Flash is a heavy app in your browser.” If you knew anything about programming, you'd know that performance is extremely important. If you can do the exact same thing to something done in Flash using HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript (which, performance-wise SHOULD be significantly faster), then why on earth would you want to torture your poor users by making their computer's fans spin like crazy?
PS – Believe it or not, I own and am writing this on a Mac, too. I think Steve Jobs is high on his own ego 99.99% of the time, and I think Apple is WAY too restrictive with how they handle their products, but that's easy to get around if you're willing to bend the rules. I also do all my web/graphic work on a PC, but that's just because floating windows piss me off, and because my $1000 laptop has roughly the same specs as a $2400 Macbook (and those giant mouse buttons freak me out).
PPS – What is up with all that white space on the iPhone lock screen? Show me my freaking calendar or something!! I guess asking to customize (without jailbreaking) is probably too much to ask from the mighty Apple. Also, who decided a lock screen on a tablet (iPad) was a good idea? Especially with… *gasp* MORE FREAKING WHITE SPACE THAN THE IPHONE!!
Just like to tell you all that apple is already beginning to stumble up on its computing side anyway. Many people are probably beginning to realise that buying a pc is much cheaper than buying a mac, and since it take the same effort to use apps like dreamweaver, photoshop and illustrator (well) and to keep a pc running smooth, many mac users may slide towards pc's once their mac burns up, just like apple will eventually do soon if they don't do something drastic. Therefore there is validity behind this argument. However Apple being Apple, what may happen is that they do the same thing again, slightly higher specced hardware and a new design ( i say new, maybe its got a part or two taken out like most of the others) they will defienetly loose all hope in maintaining a stable company. I'm not so surprised that they've begun to look at phones and televisions in more depth since they will need something to hold onto when their grasp on that handful of customers in computing finally turn their backs on them.
LOL, you are a Macfag.
What's with the name calling, dude? Afraid that your argument won't be strong enough with it? Calling someone an idiot and a liar automatically invalidates your argument.
Where do you get those numbers? Adobe has stated that over 40% of Adobe’s revenues come from the sale of Mac OS X software products. They just can't stop Mac support like that today…
Its an interesting post informational as well……
Flash is responsible for most crashes on the Mac and uses abnormal amounts of processing power which would drain the battery of any mobile device.
Both require you to download something other than the browser to view, and both become inaccessible to people without that download. Yes,Adobe has stated that over 40% of Adobe’s revenues come from the sale of Mac OS X software products.