Why did Apple hire Adobe CTO Kevin Lynch?
Just hours after word leaked that Apple had poached Adobe's chief technology officer, the Internet is ablaze with the question of what, exactly, the iPhone maker plans to do with Kevin Lynch.
Tensions between the two companies grew, particularly after the iPad appeared without any support for it, followed by a devastating essay written by Steve Jobs that attacked Flash from multiple angles, including its performance, impact on battery life, its faulty security record, its degree of openness as a technology, and even its core value to the web, given the large library of iOS apps and superior alternatives to delivering video and animations on the web that existed by then.
Lynch staunchly defended Flash, accusing Apple of promoting a philosophy "counter" to the web and one that would require developers to target multiple platforms, rather than writing to a common 'run anywhere' platform like Flash.
He touted the partnerships Adobe had lined up, stating at the time that "all the innovation coming from all those companies will dwarf what's coming from the one company that isn't participating."
Instead, Apple's iOS juggernaut did the dwarfing, obliterating the market for Flash so rapidly that even Adobe's close ally Google abandoned support for the middleware on Android just two years after promoting Flash Player as a major differentiating feature of its new devices.
Gruber has subsequently written a piece referring to Apple's new VP of Technology as "a Bozo, a Bad Hire," citing Lynch's comments in support of Flash while working for Adobe and tasked with marketing Flash.
However, Flash isn't the only project Lynch has worked on. He has roots in developing software titles for the Macintosh back to his college years, and his bio (still hosted by Adobe) cites early work in the mid 90s developing user interface elements at General Magic, a portable computing company Apple spun off in 1990 to focus its efforts on the Newton Message Pad.
Lynch also "designed the user interface and developed the first Macintosh release" of Frame's FrameMaker publication layout software (later acquired by Adobe) as well as Macromedia's Dreamweaver, one of the original graphical desktop web development tools (which was also acquired by Adobe). At Macromedia, Lynch served as "chief software architect and president of product development."
The next year, Schiller left Macromedia to join Steve Jobs at Apple. But back at Macromedia, a series of products were vying for the company's attention, ranging from print tools that directly completed with Adobe, to a fledgling new video editor named KeyGrip developed by Adobe's former Premier creator Randy Ubillos, to new web-centric tools like Flash and Dreamweaver.
Macromedia caught a big break when Microsoft agreed to distribute Flash with Internet Explorer 5. That gave Flash a rapidly installed base even as Microsoft worked diligently to thwart the progress of Sun's Java and Netscape's web browser as competing threats to Windows, and as Microsoft worked to derail Apple's QuickTime as the medium for distributing web videos.
Aided by Microsoft, Macromedia's Flash rapidly took over as the web's preferred method for distributing video, animations and interactivity. Because Flash was closed and proprietary to Macromedia, no open community could foster any real threat to Windows via web apps, at least not for nearly another decade.
The growing popularity of Flash led Macromedia to focus on web development tools, inducing it to nearly abandon KeyGrip. Apple, noting the importance of salvaging one of the last major products to be build around QuickTime, stepped in and acquired the project, eventually selling it under the name Final Cut Pro.
The success of Final Cut Pro in helping to sell PowerMacs to a new audience threw Apple an important lifeline. Additionally, in hiring Ubillos, Apple again became a significant software applications developer, churning out titles like iMovie and making new acquisitions that led to the development of Logic Pro, GarageBand and a series of other Pro Apps and iLife and iWork titles.
By 2005, Adobe decided to stop competing against Macromedia and instead simply acquired it, citing Flash as central to the $3.4 billion purchase. It's no surprise why Adobe began staunchly defending its key asset once Apple released its first iPhone two years later without Flash support, and as it subsequently watched iOS grow in stature at the expense of Flash among mobile devices.
A report by Bloomberg says Lynch "led Adobe?s push to focus more on subscription-based services and wireless devices, introducing Creative Cloud software, which lets designers use mobile applications for creating printed pages and websites from an iPad or other tablets," noting that Adobe reported signing up more than 500,000 Creative Cloud subscribers.
Included Creative Cloud software. | Source: Adobe
Apple is certainly interested in expanding its expertise in providing software services, particularly as it builds out data centers tasked with hosting iCloud, App Store and iTunes related services.
Lynch was also credited by Adobe as being "responsible for the company's ubiquitous Portable Document Format (PDF)" as well as managing the "alignment of Adobe's servers and tools with the company's technology platform." Additionally, it said he "oversees Adobe's developer relations program, including the integration of customers and partners in the development process through Adobe Labs and customer advisory councils."
Apple's existing executive committee is also currently spread quite thin in a number of other respects, with Eddy Cue tasked with managing the entirely of Apple's online services ranging from iTunes to iCloud to App Stores; Craig Federighi tasked with managing both OS X and iOS; and Jon Ive now handling both the overall design of hardware and software.
Rather than assigning Lynch a specific role that takes over some portion now assigned to one of these executives, Apple has him reporting to Bob Mansfield, who currently leads the new "Technology" group Apple created last fall.
That new group combined the company's wireless teams and included its semiconductor efforts, which has been rapidly growing in stature as Apple has made a series of acquisitions over the last five years, from PA Semi to Intrinsity to AuthenTec and Anobit.
Apple may be interested in seeing where its actual needs are, having just rejiggered its executive team last fall. Over the last several years, the company has experienced some high profile executive churn, having hired IBM's Mark Papermaster to lead its iPod and iPhone division and Dixon's John Browett to run its retail operations.
Both hires turned out to be disastrous, largely due to their incompatibilities with Apple's culture. While Lynch already has a well documented, historical difference with Apple in regard to Flash, his history in developing Macintosh applications and working near Apple in the same Silicon Valley environment are likely to make him a better fit at Apple compared to the very different backgrounds of Papermaster and Browett.
No Flash in the pan
Lynch is particularly interesting as an executive choice for Apple because of his close association with Adobe Flash, a product he infamously clashed with Apple over, beginning in 2010.Tensions between the two companies grew, particularly after the iPad appeared without any support for it, followed by a devastating essay written by Steve Jobs that attacked Flash from multiple angles, including its performance, impact on battery life, its faulty security record, its degree of openness as a technology, and even its core value to the web, given the large library of iOS apps and superior alternatives to delivering video and animations on the web that existed by then.
Lynch staunchly defended Flash, accusing Apple of promoting a philosophy "counter" to the web and one that would require developers to target multiple platforms, rather than writing to a common 'run anywhere' platform like Flash.
He touted the partnerships Adobe had lined up, stating at the time that "all the innovation coming from all those companies will dwarf what's coming from the one company that isn't participating."
Instead, Apple's iOS juggernaut did the dwarfing, obliterating the market for Flash so rapidly that even Adobe's close ally Google abandoned support for the middleware on Android just two years after promoting Flash Player as a major differentiating feature of its new devices.
Is Lynch a bozo for supporting Flash?
Apple's ability, less than three years later, to woo Lynch away from Adobe speaks volumes about the resiliency of both parties. It's not yet obvious what Lynch will be doing at Apple however. As columnist John Gruber recently tweeted to former Apple executive Jean-Louis Gass?e, "What?s your theory? I?m at a loss, honestly. Makes no sense to me."Gruber has subsequently written a piece referring to Apple's new VP of Technology as "a Bozo, a Bad Hire," citing Lynch's comments in support of Flash while working for Adobe and tasked with marketing Flash.
However, Flash isn't the only project Lynch has worked on. He has roots in developing software titles for the Macintosh back to his college years, and his bio (still hosted by Adobe) cites early work in the mid 90s developing user interface elements at General Magic, a portable computing company Apple spun off in 1990 to focus its efforts on the Newton Message Pad.
Lynch also "designed the user interface and developed the first Macintosh release" of Frame's FrameMaker publication layout software (later acquired by Adobe) as well as Macromedia's Dreamweaver, one of the original graphical desktop web development tools (which was also acquired by Adobe). At Macromedia, Lynch served as "chief software architect and president of product development."
How Flash threatened, and indirectly helped save, Apple
Additionally, Lynch isn't the only Apple executive to have promoted Flash in a former life. Apple's current senior vice president of worldwide marketing Phil Schiller was formerly Macromedia's VP of Product Marketing, back when the company bought Flash from its original developer FutureWave in 1996.The next year, Schiller left Macromedia to join Steve Jobs at Apple. But back at Macromedia, a series of products were vying for the company's attention, ranging from print tools that directly completed with Adobe, to a fledgling new video editor named KeyGrip developed by Adobe's former Premier creator Randy Ubillos, to new web-centric tools like Flash and Dreamweaver.
Macromedia caught a big break when Microsoft agreed to distribute Flash with Internet Explorer 5. That gave Flash a rapidly installed base even as Microsoft worked diligently to thwart the progress of Sun's Java and Netscape's web browser as competing threats to Windows, and as Microsoft worked to derail Apple's QuickTime as the medium for distributing web videos.
Aided by Microsoft, Macromedia's Flash rapidly took over as the web's preferred method for distributing video, animations and interactivity. Because Flash was closed and proprietary to Macromedia, no open community could foster any real threat to Windows via web apps, at least not for nearly another decade.
The growing popularity of Flash led Macromedia to focus on web development tools, inducing it to nearly abandon KeyGrip. Apple, noting the importance of salvaging one of the last major products to be build around QuickTime, stepped in and acquired the project, eventually selling it under the name Final Cut Pro.
The success of Final Cut Pro in helping to sell PowerMacs to a new audience threw Apple an important lifeline. Additionally, in hiring Ubillos, Apple again became a significant software applications developer, churning out titles like iMovie and making new acquisitions that led to the development of Logic Pro, GarageBand and a series of other Pro Apps and iLife and iWork titles.
By 2005, Adobe decided to stop competing against Macromedia and instead simply acquired it, citing Flash as central to the $3.4 billion purchase. It's no surprise why Adobe began staunchly defending its key asset once Apple released its first iPhone two years later without Flash support, and as it subsequently watched iOS grow in stature at the expense of Flash among mobile devices.
Lynch after Flash at Adobe
As all prospects for Flash on mobile devices imploded last year, Lynch's role at Adobe focused on managing the company's Research and Experience Design teams, which have increasingly focused on HTML5 and using Adobe's Flash tools to generate code for native apps on various platforms, including Apple's iOS.A report by Bloomberg says Lynch "led Adobe?s push to focus more on subscription-based services and wireless devices, introducing Creative Cloud software, which lets designers use mobile applications for creating printed pages and websites from an iPad or other tablets," noting that Adobe reported signing up more than 500,000 Creative Cloud subscribers.
Included Creative Cloud software. | Source: Adobe
Apple is certainly interested in expanding its expertise in providing software services, particularly as it builds out data centers tasked with hosting iCloud, App Store and iTunes related services.
Lynch was also credited by Adobe as being "responsible for the company's ubiquitous Portable Document Format (PDF)" as well as managing the "alignment of Adobe's servers and tools with the company's technology platform." Additionally, it said he "oversees Adobe's developer relations program, including the integration of customers and partners in the development process through Adobe Labs and customer advisory councils."
Lots of potential jobs for Lynch at Apple
With the sidelining of Scott Forstall, the lead architect of iOS, Apple certainly has needs for experts in the areas of managing its technology platform and in developer relations. Apple also has a series of Pro Apps and other desktop and mobile software titles that appear starved for "software architects" and product development managers.Apple's existing executive committee is also currently spread quite thin in a number of other respects, with Eddy Cue tasked with managing the entirely of Apple's online services ranging from iTunes to iCloud to App Stores; Craig Federighi tasked with managing both OS X and iOS; and Jon Ive now handling both the overall design of hardware and software.
Rather than assigning Lynch a specific role that takes over some portion now assigned to one of these executives, Apple has him reporting to Bob Mansfield, who currently leads the new "Technology" group Apple created last fall.
That new group combined the company's wireless teams and included its semiconductor efforts, which has been rapidly growing in stature as Apple has made a series of acquisitions over the last five years, from PA Semi to Intrinsity to AuthenTec and Anobit.
Apple may be interested in seeing where its actual needs are, having just rejiggered its executive team last fall. Over the last several years, the company has experienced some high profile executive churn, having hired IBM's Mark Papermaster to lead its iPod and iPhone division and Dixon's John Browett to run its retail operations.
Both hires turned out to be disastrous, largely due to their incompatibilities with Apple's culture. While Lynch already has a well documented, historical difference with Apple in regard to Flash, his history in developing Macintosh applications and working near Apple in the same Silicon Valley environment are likely to make him a better fit at Apple compared to the very different backgrounds of Papermaster and Browett.
Comments
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gazoobee
The whole question is silly. He will be working under Bob Mansfield and Bob Mansfield has already retired once and hen came back when his replacement wasn't the right guy. Whether it's a smart move or a dumb move, it seems pretty clear to me that this guy is Bob's new (possible) replacement or at least second in command.
Considering that he was aspiring to be CEO of Adobe, I highly doubt he took the position to remain 2nd in command. I personally think he'll be Bob's new replacement.
My guess is that he'll do something like work on the internal systems like POS, online self service etc
Quote:
Originally Posted by charlituna
The implication is that Apple will put Flash in iOS. Doubt it.
I agree. I don't think we'll see anything resembling an implementation of flash for iOS. I thought of assigning it a hypothetical title, but it was too silly.
I am seriously questioning Cook's ability to access talent. Jobs could look right thru a guy and sum them up in a second. Cook apparently believes the resume BS and unable to judge what is important
I think DED raised an interesting point... Could it be that Cook, while being a great CEO, does not quite have a knack for recruitment and resource management? He has backed the disastrous Browett recruitment with a vengeance, the position is still vacant and temporarily filled by an accountant named Bean (), we do not know yet, if Ives can really stand in for Forstall (who, IMHO, was right not to apologize for Maps, was Apple's best presenter after Jobs, and did a hell of a Job managing iOS) and gave more duties to Eddy Cue, who might be a great negotiator with media companies, but has failed to deliver any barely respectable online service so far, one that can just compete with start-ups... and they had to throw serious money (deservedly, no doubt, but still) at Bob Mansfield to even stay as there was obviously no suitable replacement.
Not worried about Apple's products or pipeline. But this HR story is far from convincing so far.
Quote:
Originally Posted by karmadave
Adobe is good at cranking out new versions, of existing products, with 'brutal efficiency'. Apple's recent software efforts have been lagging, in my opinion, so bringing in a guy with software experience makes some sense.
Um, if 'blackmailing people to update, just to get bug fixes for stuff that has been not working since the day it was released' is what you mean by 'brutal efficiency', then yes. There is nothing Apple can learn from Adobe, at least nothing that would make Apple better.
What on earth can Cook see in this guy? I'm sure he's a nice guy and all, but c'mon, this is Apple. Apple doesn't hire B players.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Shameer Mulji
Considering that he was aspiring to be CEO of Adobe, I highly doubt he took the position to remain 2nd in command. I personally think he'll be Bob's new replacement.
Can someone explain why this guy would be a good replacement for Mansfield? Mansfield is a hardware guy. What does this guy know about silicon, silicon, semiconductors, SOCs, wireless, etc.?
Quote:
Originally Posted by AppleInsider
Is Lynch a bozo for supporting Flash?
Apple's ability, less than three years later, to woo Lynch away from Adobe speaks volumes about the resiliency of both parties. It's not yet obvious what Lynch will be doing at Apple however. As columnist John Gruber recently tweeted to former Apple executive Jean-Louis Gass?e, "What?s your theory? I?m at a loss, honestly. Makes no sense to me."
Oh, for pete's sake.
Why on earth would anyone hire someone who's defended Flash? Why???
Answer: It's not a religion.
Jobs said Flash was rubbish for the mobile world. This chap was tasked with fixing that. He failed so badly that Adobe was forced to pretty much abandon mobile Flash.
Well at least he doesn't have an MBA.
Quote:
Originally Posted by dreyfus2
I think DED raised an interesting point... Could it be that Cook, while being a great CEO, does not quite have a knack for recruitment and resource management? He has backed the disastrous Browett recruitment with a vengeance, the position is still vacant and temporarily filled by an accountant named Bean (), we do not know yet, if Ives can really stand in for Forstall (who, IMHO, was right not to apologize for Maps, was Apple's best presenter after Jobs, and did a hell of a Job managing iOS) and gave more duties to Eddy Cue, who might be a great negotiator with media companies, but has failed to deliver any barely respectable online service so far, one that can just compete with start-ups... and they had to throw serious money (deservedly, no doubt, but still) at Bob Mansfield to even stay as there was obviously no suitable replacement.
Not worried about Apple's products or pipeline. But this HR story is far from convincing so far.
Craig Federighi took over iOS from Forstall, not Ive. Cook decided to align human interface/software across the whole company under Ive. Basically what Cook did was align things by function (design, hardware, software, services) instead of product lines. Of course time will tell if he's right. But considering Steve said Ive had more power at Apple than anyone else except himself I don't think giving him more responsibility was a bad thing. In fact I think the only thing stopping him from being in control of all design before was Steve. Steve had that role. Lets not forget though that under Steve's watch we got the awful Corinthian stitched leather, the mess that is Game Center, etc.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gazoobee
The whole question is silly. He will be working under Bob Mansfield and Bob Mansfield has already retired once and hen came back when his replacement wasn't the right guy. Whether it's a smart move or a dumb move, it seems pretty clear to me that this guy is Bob's new (possible) replacement or at least second in command.
That's the vaguest clear I've ever heard.
You can't knock Shiller for his Flash history, because back then (in the hands of Macromedia) Flash was revolutionary.
Quote:
Originally Posted by dreyfus2
I think DED raised an interesting point... Could it be that Cook, while being a great CEO, does not quite have a knack for recruitment and resource management? He has backed the disastrous Browett recruitment with a vengeance, the position is still vacant and temporarily filled by an accountant named Bean (), we do not know yet, if Ives can really stand in for Forstall (who, IMHO, was right not to apologize for Maps, was Apple's best presenter after Jobs, and did a hell of a Job managing iOS) and gave more duties to Eddy Cue, who might be a great negotiator with media companies, but has failed to deliver any barely respectable online service so far, one that can just compete with start-ups... and they had to throw serious money (deservedly, no doubt, but still) at Bob Mansfield to even stay as there was obviously no suitable replacement.
Not worried about Apple's products or pipeline. But this HR story is far from convincing so far.
Dreyfus, I think you may be correct on all points in your post.
And damned you, for that.
Apple nailed the hardware just needs to take iOS in a new exciting direction.
Sounds like he has some insight into PDF and iOS needs a universal reader, a Preview of sorts, that can read just about any file format.
I was a bit nervous after Forestall left (or was kicked out). I'm not exactly inspired by who's coming in. I hope there's more to this guy than our initial gut check.....
Speaking of PDFs, PDFpen is on sale on the App store (for 48 hours).