Interesting post over on TUAW about how Mac Book Pro sales are lower than expected. The reason? Adobe hasn’t released a universal binary version of CS3. I always forget how much clout Adobe really has. People are putting off entire computer purchases because of lack of availability of Adobe software. And they’re doing so in large enough numbers to have an impact on Apple’s bottom line (good thing they’re selling all of those iPods).

Now when I think of how this affects their merger with Macromedia and their strategy going forward with Flex and Flash, I see nothing but good signs. No one is better than Adobe at catering to the design market. I think competition from Microsoft is great, and I don’t think Microsoft’s offerings can just be brushed aside, but an awoken Adobe is going to be able to build some fantastic solutions. People trust Adobe, they’ve spent a huge amount of time learning Adobe products, and getting Flex and Flash to tap into that cult-like market can only be good for Rich Internet Applications.

Adobe sometimes struggles with developers, but even that’s changing. Ted Patrick has done a kick ass job of getting a lot of developers interested in Flex and getting the message out to a new crowd. I look at what Adobe has been able to do with designers and I have high hopes that they can bring the same results to Flex and Rich Internet Applications. It’s starting to happen, and excitement continues to build around both Flex and Apollo.  If Adobe’s mammoth presence in design can be parlayed into RIAs? Watch out.

Update: I want to be clear about one thing. Adobe already has a massive presence in RIAs (just look at Flash and Flex). What I mean is if they can do what they’ve done to the design market to RIAs, then we’ll all be better off. They’ve helped grow the design market to the point that hordes of designers are refusing to upgrade computers until Adobe moves. I want to see that kind of impact for Rich Internet Applications in general.

Update 2: Dave corrected me in the comments, it’s Mac Pro, not Mac Book Pro. Not quite as earth shattering/interesting and my use of F**K in the title now looks even less warranted. Sorry.

[tags]Adobe, TUAW, CS3, Flex, Flash, Apollo[/tags]