Inside the Publishing Revolution: The Adobe Story PDF
Preview Inside the Publishing Revolution: The Adobe Story
I T P R IIIIIIIIII T A S P P 1982-1984 1 I P R: T A S Pamela Pfiffner Copyright © 2003 by Pamela Pfiffner This Adobe Press book is published by Peachpit Press. For information on Adobe Press books, contact: Peachpit Press 1249 Eighth Street Berkeley, California 94710 510-524-2178 (tel), 510-524-2221 (fax) http://www.peachpit.com To report errors, please send a note to [email protected] Peachpit Press is a division of Pearson Education For the latest on Adobe Press books, go to http://www.adobe.com/adobepress Editor: Serena Herr Production Manager: Kate Reber Adobe Press Project Manager: Jeffrey Warnock Book Design: Andrew Faulkner, Doug Beach, afstudio.com Art Direction: Min Wang Cover Design: Andrew Faulkner Copyeditor: Karen Seriguchi Permissions: Laurie Stewart Composition: Andrew Faulkner, Doug Beach, Nathalie Valette Graphics Preparation: Andrew Faulkner, Doug Beach N R All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. For information on getting permission for reprints and excerpts, contact [email protected]. N L The information in this book is distributed on an “As Is” basis, without warranty. While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of the book, neither the author nor Peachpit Press shall have any liability to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damage caused or alleged to have been caused directly or indirectly by the instructions contained in this book or by the computer software and hardware products described in it. T Throughout this book trademarked names are used. Rather than put a trademark symbol in every occurrence of a trademarked name, we state we are using the names only in an edito- rial fashion and to the benefit of the trademark owner with no intention of infringement of the trademark. All trademarks or service marks are the property of their respective owners. Logo for IBM is registered IBM; logo for Microsoft Windows 2000 is registered Microsoft Corporation; logo for Apple Computer is registered Apple Computer. ISBN 0-321-11564-3 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Printed and bound in the United States of America In honor of two remarkable partnerships: Chuck Geschke and John Warnock, who gave birth to an industry and David and Patricia Pfiffner, who gave birth to me 3 d b a o e * 2 0 1982-1984 contents 11 I 14 1982–1984: Laying the Foundation 17 The Early Years 23 Creating Adobe Systems 33 Steve Jobs and the LaserWriter 44 1985–1989: Sparking the Revolution 47 The Desktop Publishing Revolution Begins 56 Bringing Type to Market 69 Forging Alliances 77 Becoming a Public Company 80 Introducing Illustrator 89 The Industry Backlash 100 1990–1993: Charting New Directions 103 Building a Business 117 Unleashing Photoshop 129 Images in Motion 137 Acrobat: The Early Days 146 1994–1998: Expanding the Empire 149 The Era of Acquisitions 161 Finding the Consumer Market 169 Working the Web 183 Regrouping 192 1999–2001: Planning the Next Wave 195 Acrobat Takes Hold 205 The Return to Page Layout 213 Building a New Infrastructure 221 The Changing of the Guard 228 2002 and Beyond: Into the Third Decade 231 Everywhere You Look 1982-1984 6 Foreword F Adobe Systems is a company that came into being out of frustra- tion. In 1982 we both had great jobs at one of the premier research facili- ties in the world. We were given state-of-the-art equipment. We worked alongside some of the world’s best computer science minds, and we were allowed to work on problems of our own choosing. Our frustration grew out of a realization that none of our ideas were going to be used in prod- ucts in the fast-changing world of personal computing. We either had to be content with research, or leave. When we started the company, we had the hope of being successful but no great expectations. After all, we were proposing to solve problems in an entirely new way. We knew that if we failed, we could both get other jobs to support our families. What we did not know was that the world was ready for the inventions and ideas that we had to off er. As our fi rst product, PostScript, started to take hold during 1985, ’86 and ’87, we began to realize that the world of graphic arts, printing, and publishing was never going to be the same. e revolution that began as desktop publishing had fundamentally changed the cost, productivity, and effi ciency of the entire industry. As Adobe grew, its infl uence expanded. e company had ceased to be a grand personal experiment and was now a force whose decisions aff ected the shape of publishing to come. is unexpected success had a profound eff ect on us as individuals. We had been chosen, for better or worse, as primary infl uencers of an industry with 500 years of tradition, aesthetics, and values. We now had the respon- sibility to the industry to do the right thing. It became our goal to build a company whose culture and values refl ected that responsibility. In less than two decades, Adobe helped transform the world of print communica- tions from a manual, mechanical process to a fully digital workfl ow. Today, as all communication technologies are converting to digital, Adobe’s prod- ucts continue to expand the technological frontiers in photography, video production, animation, digital communication, and the World Wide Web. Foreword 7 Pamela Pfi ff ner, who has reported on our industry and has known Adobe since its inception, has combined her many interviews with former employees, people inside the company, and outside industry observers into a balanced, well-thought-out story. is book, so ably written by Pfi ff ner, tells the story of the individuals that developed the technologies, marketed the products, and built Adobe Systems into the successful, vibrant, global organization it is today. As the founders of Adobe, we recognize that its accomplishments are based upon the eff orts of thousands of past and current employees, the support of millions of customers around the world, and the cooperation of hun- dreds of business partners who assisted us in achieving this success. ey are the real heroes of this story. Finally, we acknowledge the constant loving support of the two most important people in our lives, Marva and Nan, to whom these words are dedicated. John Warnock & Chuck Geschke Los Altos, California June 2002 8 Foreword
Description:The list of books you might like
