Adobe: Apple could undermine the next web chapter

The founders of Adobe have responded to Apple CEO Steve Jobs' open letter about his issues with Flash.

"As the founders of Adobe, we believe open markets are in the best interest of developers, content owners, and consumers,” reads on open letter posted on the web. “Freedom of choice on the web has unleashed an explosion of content and transformed how we work, learn, communicate, and, ultimately, express ourselves.”

Adobe co-founders Chuck Geschke and John Warnock were responding to a recent letter posted online by the Apple boss, in which Jobs wrote, “Adobe claims that we are a closed system, and that Flash is open, but in fact the opposite is true.”

The Adobe co-founders continued, “We believe that consumers should be able to freely access their favourite content and applications, regardless of what computer they have, what browser they like, or what device suits their needs. No company — no matter how big or how creative — should dictate what you can create, how you create it, or what you can experience on the web.

They say that because they publish the specifications for Flash, anyone can make their own Flash player. “Yet, Adobe Flash technology remains the market leader because of the constant creativity and technical innovation of our employees,” they add.

“We believe that Apple, by taking the opposite approach, has taken a step that could undermine this next chapter of the web — the chapter in which mobile devices outnumber computers, any individual can be a publisher, and content is accessed anywhere and at any time. In the end, we believe the question is really this: Who controls the World Wide Web? And we believe the answer is: nobody — and everybody, but certainly not a single company.”

Adobe has also begun an adverting campaign that uses the tongue-in-cheek slogan, "We heart Apple" (pictured).