May 02, 2005
Adobe Macromedia Merger Thoughts
Daring Fireball opines on the state of Adobe and why it acquired Macromedia. He has issues with the CEO of Adobe, who he thinks cares more about salesmanship than innovation. Which means the company bought Macromedia, so it can just market and sell more products better.I actually think the main driver behind the move was a defensive one. There is really only one competitor that Adobe fears about over its graphics and design monopoly. You guessed it. The evil empire. If Microsoft bought Macromedia, Adobe would have a serious fight for its survival. Now without Macromedia in the picture, it takes away Microsoft's entry into the arena. Pretty nifty move I think.
Like most sales guys, Chizen seems like the sort of person who believes that what matters most is not the quality of the product itself, but merely the marketing in which you package it. Marketing does matter, and so does salesmanship. But the main reason Adobe Systems has been a success is that they created and developed terrific, innovative software. Engineering talent isn’t enough; you need passion for innovative products at the top of a company.
