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I've often wondered why Apple doesn't buy Adobe, kill all development for PCs, and leave Microsoft high and dry in the creative market. Just saying...
by dbrannan 16y ago
I've often wondered why Apple doesn't buy Adobe, kill all development for PCs, and leave Microsoft high and dry in the creative market.
Just saying...
- umjames 16y agoI don't know how Apple would feel about having to deal with all those enterprise customers who run Adobe software on PCs only. Also, a number of Adobe products don't have Mac versions, like ColdFusion and JRun. Yes, there are still places that rely on this software.
- ctravis 16y agoKilling off the Mac version of CS would do a pretty good job halting Apple's inroads into enterprise
- jrockway 16y agoWhat's "CS"? Unless it's Outlook's calendaring, I doubt it will have any effect on "the enterprise". Remember, most people only use their computers to send email, setup meetings, and browse Facebook.
- tuacker 16y agoCS is shorthand for Creative Suite. A collection of several Adobe products into one package available in several flavors. http://www.adobe.com/products/creativesuite/ http://www.adobe.com/products/creativesuite/
- ctravis 16y agoCorrect, but a large chunk of corporations have in house creative departments and many(if not most) use macs. Killing the Mac version of CS would force them to switch back to PC.
- dbrannan 16y agoColdfusion runs on Mac, not certain about JRun.
- rbanffy 16y ago> Yes, there are still places that rely on this software. Killing JRun and Cold Fusion would be doing them a favor.
- dbrannan 16y agoYou are speaking out of ignorance.
- etherael 16y agoSpeaking as someone who worked multiple cf projects over multiple years, no, he's not.
- rbanffy 16y agoWell... On the other hand, killing CF and JRun to doom them to IIS and .NET is not exactly helpful...
- etherael 16y agoHelpful to whom? of all the devs I've ever met that have used CF, the most positive thing I've ever heard said about it is that "they're used to its failings and it's comfortable". I can't help but think Microsoft's tools are a much more appealing value proposition than Adobe's in this particular space.
- rbanffy 16y agoMicrosoft's tools may be more appealing than Cold Fusion or JRun, but they are still less appealing than pretty much everything else this side of Java. At least with CF and (IIRC) JRun you are not locked into Windows...
- etherael 16y agoYeah, it's a little strange that it actually sits in the same basic ecosystem as everything else on the other side of the microsoft stack and yet manages to be worse even than the MS offerings. Frankly even considering the vendor lock-in implicit in being wed to the MS stack, I'd take that option over CF any day of the week. That said I see no reason to choose between different degrees of poison when there's plenty of good clean water around.
- dagw 16y agoI wonder if Microsoft is thinking the same thing. Either as a defensive move to make sure Photoshop will always work on Windows or as an offensive move and making Photoshop and friends windows only in an attempt to strangle the OS X platform.
- city41 16y agoMost designers I know would work for McDonald's before they'd use Windows :)
- wwortiz 16y agoI know you probably aren't entirely serious but people can and do change when their choices disappear. Fundamentalists may differ.
- michaelbuckbee 16y agoYou're correct in a general sense, but for the specific case of designers working in fields where the standard computer is a Windows machine I've almost always seen an exception made for the design department to use Macs.
- armandososa 16y agoI could use Windows but I'll never buy Windows.
- bradly 16y agoApple has been able to create pro level software for both audio and video editing industries. If Adobe/Microsoft scraped its mac line of products, I bet Apple would have a competing product out in 12 months that graphic designers would flock to.
- carbon8 16y agoNote, however, that those were all originally acquisitions. FCP was born at Macromedia and Apple purchased the product and hired the team. Shake came from the Nothing Real acquisition. Logic is from the Emagic acquisition.
- bhiggins 16y agoApple already has all the PDF technology they want, and the creative products are too high end (too niche) or Apple has a competing product.
- dchest 16y agoMaybe it's better to kill Office for Mac then?
- noarchy 16y agoI assume that Microsoft is making some money on Office for Mac. They aren't developing that product for charity. I don't see any reason for them to kill off development for the Mac, especially if they acquire Adobe. Microsoft could use some help in the mobile market, though, so I can believe the idea of those two companies joining forces to make some headway there.
- wtallis 16y agoVendor lock-in isn't as crucial to Adobe's CS as it is to Office. Microsoft doesn't want anybody to even think that there's such a thing as an "Office alternative", whereas recent years have proven that upstart competitors to components of CS can get traction. So, while killing CS for Mac might work (users switching platforms might outnumber users switching programs), killing Office for Mac would just force universities to switch to ODF and in the long term, it would hurt the rest of Office's markets.
- bad_user 16y agokilling Office for Mac IMHO that would be a catastrophe for Apple: the existence of MS Office being the only reason Mac OS X (and not Linux) is an accepted alternative for employees inside many companies (including at Adobe btw). Sorry, but CS is niche software used by certain professionals. MS Office / Exchange are used by everybody else ;) And I wouldn't bet against Microsoft for providing an alternative to CS: judging from the experience of using Microsoft Blend, they are rookies, but they can manage it.
- runjake 16y agoBecause the Windows versions of their products account for the vast majority of their profits.
- brudgers 16y agoI suspect that were Adobe to leave the Windows market, the vacated "niche" would be quickly filled.
- andybak 16y agoIt might be harder than you think to replace highly refined creative tools such as Illustrator or Photoshop. Although they have become rather bloated and the last few versions have failed to innovate in significant ways, there is a lot of graphics professionals who would be very reluctant to waste all that hard-won muscle-memory. Plus there's a lot of work-flow knowledge in them there apps.
- protomyth 16y agoNot to mention all the color patents.
- brudgers 16y agoI agree that replacing Illustrator and Photoshop are nontrivial. I doubt that a typical startup could do it. On the other hand, it would be a natural fit for someone like Autodesk given their resources and markets. Retail box graphics applications could make sense in Microsoft's product line. Even Corel would be in a position to capitalize on Adobe leaving the Windows market.
- duck 16y agoExactly, I have tried repeatedly to switch to GIMP as Photoshop is the only reason I have a Windows box at home - but I just can't do it.
- deleted 16y ago[deleted]
- siglesias 16y agoAt this point with the Flash debate there'd be no culture fit. Also there was a ton of tension between these companies early in the decade when Adobe was dragging its feet to do Photoshop for OSX.
- misterbwong 16y agoApple wouldn't do this for the same reason that MS doesn't do this with Office: $$$$$$. There's too much money in the PC market to ignore it.
- dbrannan 16y agoExplain please.
- bad_user 16y agoActually there have been internal talks / rumors about the possibility of Apple buying Adobe (1-2 years ago): guess it didn't work out.