Adobe turns 30 this week
The Life@Adobe blog reminds us that Adobe Systems turns 30 years old this week. Wow, that's gone by pretty fast.
Founded in 1982 by John Warnock and Charles Geschke, the company started when the pair left Xerox PARC to develop the PostScript page description language. Apple was an early fan with its Laser Printer and LaserWriter. In 1985, desktop publishing took off.
Later came Adobe Illustrator, and what would become the company's flagship product (and my favorite), Photoshop, which revolutionized image editing. I don't think a day goes by that I don't touch Photoshop, and I've been using it and upgrading since version 1.0 in 1990 when it was a Macintosh exclusive. In 1993, Adobe introduced PDF files and the Acrobat Reader, which is now up to version 11. It's another Adobe product that many people use daily.
Like all big companies, Adobe has had its share of missteps. Most recently perhaps, the drama with Apple over Adobe Flash, which Apple chose to not support on iOS devices.
After 30 years, Adobe continues to make a tremendous contribution to graphics, photography, printing and web design. It's hard to find a digital product or media tool that lacks some Adobe DNA. Another 30 years of success is a pretty sure thing.
