Since the release of the iPad, apple has been raking in the profits by selling more than 1 million units after just one month in the market. (businessinsider.com) However, whilst the iPad has created a new market for slate computers, it also sparked a war between Apple and Adobe. This is very ironic for both companies, considering their beginnings.

“Triumph of the Nerds” is a documentary about the creation of the computer industry. If you watch it, you can better understand the roots of Apple, Microsoft, IBM, and all those cool tech companies. Apple was the innovator it has always been ever since the beginning and captured a good piece of the market. However, versus Microsoft’s graphic user interface, Windows, and its killer-app Lotus 1-2-3, Apple was losing market share to Microsoft. Ironically, it was with the help of Adobe Systems that Apple was able to survive. Adobe developed PostScript, which made possible exact printing of an image on a computer screen onto paper and Apple got the exclusive rights to it.  This opened the doors for the artists to get computers, and it is partially why today we associate Apple as a computer for designers.

What is happening now? Why do I say the war is ironic? Because Apple is now attacking Adobe for one of its programs, Flash, saying that the content produced is proprietary of Adobe and it is not open sourced. Steve Jobs says that to develop Flash content all the tools you need are only provided by Adobe, making it a closed system. Adobe says Flash is open. I’m not sure how Apple sees it will benefit from this conflict. It is attacking one of its main allies and one of the software why people buy his computers.

In the end, I think Apple is only hurting itself by continuing this argument.

Here is the complete article about it.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/10113915.stm