Adobe to Apple: We love you, but...

The Apple/Adobe cage match continues with a new campaign from Adobe. We first noticed it on Engadget this morning. It begins with the simple statement "We [heart] Apple" and goes on to say, "We love Flash and HTML 5. We love our 3 million developers. We love authoring code only once. We love all platforms and devices."

It then describes what Adobe doesn't love, including "...anybody taking away our freedom to choose what you create, how you create it and what you experience on the web." After clicking through the ad, the user is brought to a page entitled "We [heart] choice" which features a letter from Adobe's founders, Chuck Geschke and John Warnock. Some choice passages include:

"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...We believe that consumers should be able to freely access their favorite 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."

In Adobe's view, Apple is telling developers "it's my way or the highway." Apple, on the other hand, believes that Adobe is clinging out outdated, proprietary tools. The fervor began when the original iPhone failed to support Flash (both the iPhone and iPad still don't) and the gloves came off when Steve Jobs published his "thoughts on Flash." Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen responded in a matter of hours, and the public bickering has continued since.

In addition to the web ad, Adobe also has a full page ad in the Washington Post today. Their opinions are so diametrically opposed, it's hard to see how this conflict will come to a resolution.

Thanks to reader Jeff Gates for his independent tip on this story!