The Adobe Spat: Dark Foreshadowings for Apple, or Not?
By now I'm sure you've read of Adobe's article that defiantly shows speed comparisons between Photoshop on a Windows PC and a Power Mac G4.. This article, in no uncertain terms, indicated that Photoshop was the "preferred" platform for Photoshop. The content was a complete slam at all things professionally and traditionally done with a Macintosh over the years.
And Adobe is right.
Keep in mind that Adobe is in business to sell their software. While Adobe and Apple have a strong relationship, Apple has done a few things to tick Adobe off in this business relationship, particularly in graphic editing. So it wasn't hard for Adobe to take a shot such as this.
Also note that there are many more PCs than Macintosh systems, although the ratio of PC graphic users to Macintosh graphic users is probably at 1:4. Adobe wants to ship more boxes of software, period, and the slower migration of Mac OS 9 users to Mac OS X, combined with the depressed economy and Apple's struggles to get a faster G4 processor in their professional desktops are all adding up to important business choices for Adobe to continue to make money.
Don't think that Adobe is going to ditch Macs anytime soon, or later. But this article is a wake-up call for Apple to get their stuff together on the hardware front or risk erosion of their software alliances.
News and rumors of the PowerPC 970 chip is enlightening, but Apple should do something they don't usually do: Announce a product ahead of time with the new chip. Now, I'm not really suggesting that Apple do an Osborne and announce a product so far in advance that existing sales slow. But users, vendors, and stockholders want a bone in terms of what's coming down the pike for Apple. I don't know how Apple can do this, but it's needed.
6:54:42 PM 
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