macobserver.com — "If Apple buys Adobe, is the operating system market up for grabs? It doesn't take a brain surgeon to see why. Borrowing heavily from Mr. Cringely's terminology, there are several industry realities and stories, each having its own vector/trajectory that might lead one to seeing the importance of Adobe to Apple's well being."
Dec 16, 2005 View in Crawl 4
groverallnightDec 17, 2005
Bluestarr needs a new hobby.
dickyduckyDec 17, 2005
Should Citibank buy HSBC??!! lame
dagonDec 17, 2005
Doesn't Microsoft own a huge chunk of Apple? I remember MS putting 500mil into Apple when it wasnt worth jack, just to avoid looking like a monopoly.Apple is in no position to do anything to threaten Microsoft.
geminitojanusDec 17, 2005
"Now that Macromedia + Adobe = Adobe, Adobe must be about the same size as apple anyway."Let's set some facts straight: Apple is a $60 Billion dollar company (aapl ticker, look for "market cap"). Adobe is a $20 Billion dollar company (after the acquisition of Macromedia, which just about doubled the company's size). "Doesn't Microsoft own a huge chunk of Apple?"NO. Apple bought back the portion of themselves owned by Microsoft years ago (about 10 years to be more precise), after the huge boom with the iMac. There was simply no reason to allow Microsoft to profit off of Apple doing well, since Microsoft has done nothing to help Apple in years (and a lot of people's mouths were still sour about Microsoft's 95 demolishing any chance Apple had of reclaiming what was rightfully theirs at the time). "His key premise is that Apple/Adobe could threaten to stop supporting windows for Adobe apps. That's called suicide."No, it's called good business; Microsoft generally responds well to threats from major software OEMs (sans the Open Source world, which is kind of funny actually). While it would severely damage Adobe's bottom line to stop supporting Windows, the fact is that it'd never happen; the threat would be enough to put Microsoft on its toes. "Linux couldn't afford to cover its own light bill right now"There is a great deal of money in Linux; Novell, IBM and Redhat are all major linux supporters, all having BILLIONS (yes, BILLIONS) of dollars tied into Linux support infrastructure; the difference is that the money isn't spent so much in developing new products, it's spent in maintaining current ones, which is a huge problem in the Linux world since development is chaotic and unscheduled. Believe it or not, the world is diverging into Server applications and Desktop applications, and companies are drawing the battlelines quite clearly; Apple and Microsoft are gearing up for a Desktop battle, Linux and Microsoft on the Server battle, and Microsoft vs Sony vs Nintendo in the gaming world, and Microsoft vs Google vs eBay vs Yahoo in the Web Applications world. My point clear? No? Microsoft's seriously overextending itself..."Apple doesn't have the money to buy Adobe. To get 51% of Adobe's current market cap of 23.33 billion, you'll need $11.665 billion. Apple is only worth $59.92 billion, as Apple liquidate shares the price deflates, while as it grabs Adobe the price inflates. This is a topic that can't happen yet."Thanks for a coheirent post, but it doesn't rule out all possibilies. Apple doesn't have to buy 51% of Adobe to make a takeover, just more of it than anyone else owns (which is generally closer to 20-40% generally). While it's possible Apple could liquidate that amount of money, why would they? Apple and Adobe are only slightly complementary and diverging (Adobe is getting more into Web publishing and authoring, Apple is moving towards portable applications and lightweight computing). They're fundamentally different companies, it simply makes no sense for them to merge. It does make sense to re-tighten their alliance as Apple does use a lot of technology either licensed from or invented by Adobe, but I don't see this happening as much either, as Adobe has clearly stated its position in being a part of the Windows community vs the Apple community. Lastly; Digg. Please listen. Threaded responses. Please. That is all.
corksterDec 17, 2005
So let me get this straight:Microsoft = omg! bad n' evilApple = good super kawaii^_^Yet another reason I hate apple.
Closed AccountDec 17, 2005
"At any given time, all Microsoft has to do to put Apple down like a sick pony is stop making Microsoft Office for the Mac."WTF? I guess all those print ads, tv spots, movie editing, web design, etc...is done in Office. Riiiight.
Closed AccountDec 17, 2005
apple is owned my bill he controls it from his basement.
beejay54Dec 17, 2005
Yes yes they should.
marcus_rDec 17, 2005
What Apple should do as leverage against Microsoft is sell their mother f**king operating system already and allow it to be used on any box. Period.I would buy it in a second.Instead, Jobs and his massive ego would rather stick it in products that cost way too much for the average consumer. Then they wonder why their market share is not as great as it should be.P.S., I'm no Mac zealot, but come on. You all know that the Mac O.S. is superior.
Closed AccountDec 19, 2005
I don't want Adobe to get bought out, they're my favorite software company. I personally hope that if Adobe were ever bought it would be Microsoft doing the buying, I wouldn't want apple to have that kind of leverage.
mattsantiApr 10, 2009
Anything that Apple can do to take down Microsoft. Yes, windows is okay but man they don't need to rule the world, do you think so?