Adobe founders snap at Apple

Adobe founders Chuck Geschke and John Warnock have published a pointed open letter in response to Apple CEO Steve Jobs’ ‘Thoughts on Flash’ article, titled ‘Our thoughts on open markets.’

The response to Apple’s salvo sees the two men retreading their argument that Apple is a closed system, and that this produces unfair constraints on internet creativity.

"If the web fragments into closed systems, if companies put content and applications behind walls, some indeed may thrive — but their success will come at the expense of the very creativity and innovation that has made the Internet a revolutionary force," they write.

"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."

The pair conlude that Apple’s methods "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.”

Stay tuned for a likely Apple retort.