But they are fighting on many fronts.
I worry about
them, with all the power they have and how much they invest in R&D.
I worry about that a lot, but they are also big and have a lot of
issues. Government regulators around the world continue to look at what
they're doing closely. The Linux community is providing an operating
system that could replace Windows. OpenOffice.org is providing a
replacement, potentially, for Microsoft Office. Sun continues to be
aggressive with its own servers against Windows servers. They're
competing with the likes of Sony in the video game business and Sony
isn't just going to roll over and play dead. Apple will continue to
compete with a wave of computing against Microsoft.
They have an employee base that is going through change. One time it was an employee base that was built upon hiring the best and the brightest from universities around the world and then rewarding them through stock option appreciation. But their stock hasn't appreciated in over five years. Their ability to hire the best and the brightest has been reduced significantly because you have companies like Google and, to a lesser degree, Adobe who end up being more attractive. Then running a $40bn business has its own complexities, especially a company that was very top-down from a Bill Gates/Steve Ballmer perspective.
So those nights where I get up in the middle of the night and think "OK, they're doing PDF creation" and so on... as I toss and turn and think about those things, then I think about the list I just gave you and go back to sleep. I don't want to give them more credit than they deserve.
How do you feel about Apple's computing business?
They have a very stable, loyal customer base.
Has your relationship with Apple changed, say, going back five years?
Going back five years — they've made it much easier because you no
longer have to worry about "Will their customers move over to the
Windows platform?", which would have made Microsoft that much more
dominant in our business. Loyal customers, loyal to the Macintosh, are
good news for Adobe. The challenge will always be that Apple will look
at developing its own software that in some areas will compete with
Adobe, as they did in the video area. There will always be that
tension. But I look at Apple much more as a friend.
So a strong Apple...
... is a good thing.
How do you feel about Apple on Intel (processors)?
In the long term it's great because it allows production of faster,
more powerful computers that can be more affordable than today. Plus,
in theory, because we work closely with Intel we should be able to take
advantage of the optimisation that we do around Intel at the native
level, especially for graphics and video applications. The challenging
part will be the switch. It will take coding and compiling time — and
that's work.
How much did you know about Apple's move to Intel?
(Apple
chief executive) Steve Jobs and I have an appropriately close
relationship. He shared his plans. A variety of times he broached the
subject and right before he announced it he made it clear to me.
What effect does open source have on Adobe?
We've had
competitors for a number of years — for example, KIllustrator for
Illustrator, Gimp for Photoshop. We find that as long as we innovate
and maintain our quality levels our customers will pay for the
commercial product. They want the best. The one risk is that
governments end up dictating, saying you can only use open source
products, not giving users choice. We like choice. Open source is a
problem if we are forced to do open source.
Are you thinking about instances in Korea, Munich...
... in China!
China again.
In China, if they say you can only buy from domestic suppliers that would mean we are out of business there forever.
So is your China setup part of a charm offensive?
Yeah.
We are developing R&D centres there. We sent one of our lead
engineers from San Jose, trying to make PDF much more of a standard
there. We're looking at doing Chinese localisation there — putting
money back into the local economy, working with the government and
universities. It's important that we show our job isn't just to extract
money from China, that we want to be part of their economy. We have
R&D in Hamburg, in Norwich, in India — our job is not to be (just)
in the US and (sell) elsewhere.
What does the UK mean to you? Can you learn anything from here?
It's similar to the US in a number of ways — for example, the
government sector, where we have (tax authorities) sharing across the
US, UK and Australia. Also, (UK) financial services organisations are
very powerful. There aren't many but they are very large and tend to be
global.
And... ?
Of course the other big industry for us is publishing and media. It's
unique in the UK in that there are so many different newspapers,
magazines and media organisations. (The US moves) quicker than just
about any place else in the world. For us that's great because we can
experiment... (It's) willing to adopt new technologies more quickly. A
great example is Glamour magazine — we used that as (a) first test bed
for Adobe InDesign. It won a design award and I was able to take that
back to Conde Nast in the US — and Hearst and Time Inc. — and say,
"Look at what these guys have done".
