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Back in the days there were backroom deals to get Adobe on Apple platform. Steve would meet with Adobe executives and trade them cash and offshore stock (untrac

by MrTonyD 10y ago

Back in the days there were backroom deals to get Adobe on Apple platform. Steve would meet with Adobe executives and trade them cash and offshore stock (untraceable, of course) so that they would port to Apple. All the development for Apple was fully funded for Adobe. In case it isn't obvious, Adobe could choose to support only Windows and do just fine - eliminating development and support costs for the Apple platform. Thus, bribing the rich and greedy became the effective technique.

no_wizard 10y ago
Source? This seems incredibly unsubstantiated. There were public efforts Steve made to keep Adobe on the platform and I know there were developer meetings to ensure the transition to Carbon and Cocoa went fine. I have seen no evidence of illicit stock grants or Apple giving direct cash to executives at adobe. I hate to be that guy but I would like more information on this, otherwise it feels rather unsubstantiated and just paints both Apple and Adobe in a bad light for no reason.
- MrTonyD 10y ago
  I worked on projects for Steve and reported to his direct reports. One would have to be very naive to think that this isn't just typical business practice. Or do people really fall for that "free market" stuff that we are being sold?
  - no_wizard 10y ago
    Well, I'm not naive. I'm sure there is a lot of things that the public would find unsavory that happens all the time at the upper echelons of companies like this, sure. I'm willing to believe that. I just have never seen any substantiation between Adobe and Apple doing this sort of thing, even when Steve was alive. This is the first time someone has even confirmed it yet alone alleged this happened. I know both companies had done things in the past that were less than savory (see that whole lawsuit about suppressing wages. Very disgraceful!) Never this. It's been alleged for years, but never once was there evidence. I'm sure you could make a mint here if you wanted to, if you could substantiate any of it.
    - MrTonyD 10y ago
      Steve talked about a lot of things - and even more to his direct reports. But the only people who would have proof are also people who would never talk about it. I also worked for a direct report of Bill Gates and a direct report of Larry Ellison. They did the same types of things - often illegal. But everybody who was involved is very motivated to never talk about it. I may be one of the few people who turned down executive positions when offered - I didn't like the "business values".
dang 9y ago
You've posted many such claims and stories to HN in the past. Unless you can substantiate them, would you please not continue to post like this? The genre of the internet forum comment doesn't allow us to disambiguate true first-hand stories from people making shit up for weird reasons, and unfortunately there are many more of the latter than the former. We detached this subthread from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14053357 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14053357 and marked it off-topic.

by MrTonyD 10y ago

no_wizard 10y ago

Source? This seems incredibly unsubstantiated. There were public efforts Steve made to keep Adobe on the platform and I know there were developer meetings to ensure the transition to Carbon and Cocoa went fine. I have seen no evidence of illicit stock grants or Apple giving direct cash to executives at adobe. I hate to be that guy but I would like more information on this, otherwise it feels rather unsubstantiated and just paints both Apple and Adobe in a bad light for no reason.

MrTonyD 10y ago
I worked on projects for Steve and reported to his direct reports. One would have to be very naive to think that this isn't just typical business practice. Or do people really fall for that "free market" stuff that we are being sold?
- no_wizard 10y ago
  Well, I'm not naive. I'm sure there is a lot of things that the public would find unsavory that happens all the time at the upper echelons of companies like this, sure. I'm willing to believe that. I just have never seen any substantiation between Adobe and Apple doing this sort of thing, even when Steve was alive. This is the first time someone has even confirmed it yet alone alleged this happened. I know both companies had done things in the past that were less than savory (see that whole lawsuit about suppressing wages. Very disgraceful!) Never this. It's been alleged for years, but never once was there evidence. I'm sure you could make a mint here if you wanted to, if you could substantiate any of it.
  - MrTonyD 10y ago
    Steve talked about a lot of things - and even more to his direct reports. But the only people who would have proof are also people who would never talk about it. I also worked for a direct report of Bill Gates and a direct report of Larry Ellison. They did the same types of things - often illegal. But everybody who was involved is very motivated to never talk about it. I may be one of the few people who turned down executive positions when offered - I didn't like the "business values".

dang 9y ago

You've posted many such claims and stories to HN in the past. Unless you can substantiate them, would you please not continue to post like this? The genre of the internet forum comment doesn't allow us to disambiguate true first-hand stories from people making shit up for weird reasons, and unfortunately there are many more of the latter than the former. We detached this subthread from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14053357 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14053357 and marked it off-topic.