Adobe founders return fire at Steve Jobs

Geschke and Warnock condemn Apple's stance.

Adobe co-founders Chuck Geschke and John Warnock have written an open letter rebutting accusations from Apple that Flash is a closed system, and arguing that Apple's stance could "undermine the next chapter of the web".

The letter states that "no company should dictate what you can create, how you create it, or what you can experience", insisting that Apple is doing exactly that by refusing to run Flash, a tool which Geschke and Warnock claim is based on the idea of an open internet.

"We believe that open markets are in the best interest of developers, content owners and consumers. Adobe's business philosophy is based on a premise that, in an open market, the best products will win in the end," they said.

"Apple, by taking the opposite approach, has taken a step that could undermine this next chapter of the web in which mobile devices outnumber computers, any individual can be a publisher and content is accessed anywhere and at any time."

Geschke and Warnock also argued that Flash is already enabling the delivery of content to "hundreds of millions of people" irrespective of platform or browser.

The letter is part of a campaign launched today by Adobe to hammer home the message that 'Openness is at Adobe's Core', as it goes on the offensive against the latest accusations from Apple chief executive Steve Jobs.

"At Adobe we believe that the open flow of creativity, ideas and information should be limited only by the imagination. Everyone loses when technological barriers impede the exchange of ideas," the firm said in a statement.

"Open markets that allow developers, publishers and consumers to make their own choices about how they create, distribute and access content are essential to progress."

Apple and Adobe have been involved in an escalating battle as they seek to blame each other for a failure to find a compromise on running Flash on Apple's iPhone and iPad devices.