Why Should Apple Care About Adobe?

I've been paying some attention to the ongoing grousing between Apple and Adobe because I am a fan of both and a user of both. And, I guess, a consumer of both. There is nothing that really compares to Adobe Creative Suite for creative development and design and there is no better device or interface for anything than those from Apple; I'd rather jab a rusty fork in my eye than have to use Adobe apps (or anything) on a PC. To me, the companies always seemed to be united around a common goal of making stuff that's really good for customers before anything else; they were both premium offerings that were the class of their categories, expensive but worth it. When I heard they were squabbling, I was disappointed and, candidly, more disappointed in Apple than Adobe.

I thought that Apple was using it's new-found, broad-based and wide-spread popularity to start (I hate to say it) Microsoft-ing other companies that didn't fall in line with what the company wanted. Why not be a little more Flash-friendly? Why not let your old comrade-in-arms be a bigger part of your grand vision of the future? And beyond Flash, I was concerned that the rift between the two companies would widen to a full-fledged break-up or divorce or whatever, and I'd be left with my fork-in-the-eye alternative of either using CS on a PC or not having the best creative development platform for my Mac.

But after reading this, I think my fears are unfounded. And I think my ire might have been misdirected. Sure, I know this is from the Apple propaganda machine but I want to believe it. Honestly, Apple has never done anything other than earn my business and loyalty with everything they've done; I have never had a bad, disappointing or negative experience with anything the company has anything to do with. I love every Mac I've ever had; I love the OS and other software they develop to create such a sublime interface between user and hardware; I don't have an iPhone but want one (it's an AT&T thing, not an Apple thing): I love my iPods; and I'm looking for a better reason than "coolness" to buy an iPad, which I'm sure I'd love.

The thing that turned my perception around after reading the piece from Mr. Jobs — and after thinking more about how Apple has plowed (and sometimes plodded) through adversity — was that, in the end, I think Apple does everything they do for me. And every other user of anything Apple in the world. And everyone who doesn't use Apple's products but longs for something better. Apple has more or less bucked the conventional wisdom that access to what already exists is better business than making something new and better because it's riskier.

Henry Ford is often quoted as saying something akin to "If I'd have listened to consumers, I would have invented a faster horse." I think Apple and Steve Jobs are in that camp, too: inventing great things for consumers that they didn't necessarily know they needed or wanted. And then executing meticulously all aspects about and around whatever that thing is. I don't know if I think Adobe has that in mind: great things I don't even know I need or want.