Kevin M. Lynch is an American software developer. He is currently the vice president of technology at Apple Inc., joining in 2013 after working as the chief technology officer of Adobe Systems. [1] Lynch has been responsible for developing the software of Apple's smartwatch project, the Apple Watch, a device he demonstrated at the September 2014 Apple Launch Event.
Lynch graduated from Lincoln-Way Central High School in New Lenox, Illinois. He attended the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) College of Engineering as an undergraduate student, where he studied computer science and interactive computer graphics and worked in the UIC College of Engineering's Electronic Visualization Laboratory.
Lynch helped start one of the first Mac software startups called Mac3D—the first Mac 2D/3D drawing application. He also created innovative desktop publishing software that combined drawing and page layout, word processing, the first editable property inspectors in the GUI, and a controllable page layout pane. [2]
Early in his career, Lynch worked at Frame Technology, General Magic, and Macromedia. He helped develop General Magic's personal digital assistant in the early 1990s, widely recognized as the precursor to the modern smartphone. At Macromedia, Lynch led the Dreamweaver HTML authoring tool and introduced Flash to enable multimedia on the web, eventually reaching over 1 billion people.
In 2005, Lynch became chief software architect at Adobe Systems after being involved in the company's $3.4 billion acquisition of Macromedia. He helped integrate the companies and develop new technology including a cross-OS application runtime called AIR, which enables an app to run across iOS, Android, Mac and Windows. In 2008, he was promoted to chief technology officer, where he helped transform the company through the advancement of mobile, social and cloud technology. [2]
During his time at Adobe, Lynch was a staunch advocate of Flash—Adobe's multimedia software platform—and had highly visible debates [3] [4] with Apple CEO Steve Jobs for hindering the use of Flash on its mobile devices, the iPhone and iPad. Later, Jobs tried to recruit Lynch to Apple. [5]
In 2017, Lynch was awarded an honorary Doctor of Engineering degree by UIC for his work in software development. [2] [6] He is one of only two individuals who has received this distinction in the UIC College of Engineering's 50+ year history. The other recipient is Richard Hill, former CEO of Novellus Systems.
In a letter supporting Lynch's nomination for the honorary Doctor of Engineering degree, Apple's Chief Operating Officer Jeff Williams stated: “Truly brilliant technical minds exist. Truly amazing leaders exist. The intersection of the two isn’t seen very often.” [2] [6]
Adobe Flash is, except in China, a discontinued multimedia software platform used for production of animations, rich internet applications, desktop applications, mobile apps, mobile games, and embedded web browser video players.
Macromedia, Inc., was an American graphics, multimedia, and web development software company (1992–2005) headquartered in San Francisco, California, that made products such as Flash and Dreamweaver. It was purchased by its rival Adobe Systems on December 3, 2005.
Adobe Creative Suite (CS) is a discontinued software suite of graphic design, video editing, and web development applications developed by Adobe Systems.
SWF is a defunct Adobe Flash file format that was used for multimedia, vector graphics and ActionScript.
Adobe Shockwave is a discontinued multimedia platform for building interactive multimedia applications and video games. Developers originate content using Adobe Director and publish it on the Internet. Such content could be viewed in a web browser on any computer with the Shockwave Player plug-in installed. MacroMind originated the technology; Macromedia acquired MacroMind and developed it further, releasing Shockwave Player in 1995. Adobe then acquired Shockwave with Macromedia in 2005. Shockwave supports raster graphics, basic vector graphics, 3D graphics, audio, and an embedded scripting language called Lingo.
Apache Flex, formerly Adobe Flex, is a software development kit (SDK) for the development and deployment of cross-platform rich web applications based on the Adobe Flash platform. Initially developed by Macromedia and then acquired by Adobe Systems, Adobe donated Flex to the Apache Software Foundation in 2011 and it was promoted to a top-level project in December 2012.
Adobe Flash Player is computer software for viewing multimedia content, executing rich Internet applications, and streaming audio and video content created on the Adobe Flash platform. It can run from a web browser as a browser plug-in or independently on supported devices. Originally created by FutureWave under the name FutureSplash Player, it was renamed to Macromedia Flash Player after Macromedia acquired FutureWave in 1996. It was then developed and distributed by Adobe Systems as Flash Player after Adobe acquired Macromedia in 2005. It is currently developed and distributed by Zhongcheng for users in China, and by Harman International for enterprise users outside of China, in collaboration with Adobe.
A number of vector graphics editors exist for various platforms. Potential users of these editors will make a comparison of vector graphics editors based on factors such as the availability for the user's platform, the software license, the feature set, the merits of the user interface (UI) and the focus of the program. Some programs are more suitable for artistic work while others are better for technical drawings. Another important factor is the application's support of various vector and bitmap image formats for import and export.
Silicon Beach Software, Inc., was an early American developer of software products for the Macintosh personal computer. It was founded in San Diego, California, in 1984 by Charlie Jackson and his wife Hallie. Jackson later co-founded FutureWave Software with Jonathan Gay. FutureWave produced the first version of what is now Adobe Flash. Although Silicon Beach Software began as a publisher of game software, it also published what was called "productivity software" at the time.
Bruce R. Chizen is an American technology executive. He was the chief executive officer (CEO) of Adobe Systems from 2000 to 2007.
Rob Burgess is a Canadian executive in the technology industry. He was the chief executive officer of Macromedia Inc. from 1996 to 2005 and chairman from 1997 to 2005. Prior to that, he was CEO of Alias Research from 1991 to 1995.
Adobe Director was a multimedia application authoring platform created by Macromedia and managed by Adobe Systems until its discontinuation.
Jonathan Gay is an American computer programmer and software entrepreneur based in Northern California. Gay co-founded FutureWave Software in 1993. For a decade, he was the main programmer and visionary of Flash, an animation editor for web pages. He founded Software as Art, which was later renamed Greenbox, which made energy management solutions for the home.
Adobe FreeHand is a discontinued computer application for creating two-dimensional vector graphics oriented primarily to professional illustration, desktop publishing and content creation for the Web. FreeHand was similar in scope, intended market, and functionality to Adobe Illustrator, CorelDRAW and Xara Designer Pro. Because of FreeHand's dedicated page layout and text control features, it also compares to Adobe InDesign and QuarkXPress. Professions using FreeHand include graphic design, illustration, cartography, fashion and textile design, product design, architects, scientific research, and multimedia production.
Adobe Animate is a multimedia authoring and computer animation program developed by Adobe Inc.
Sorenson Media was an American software company specializing in video encoding technology. Established in December 1995 as Sorenson Vision, the company developed technology which was licensed and ultimately acquired from Utah State University. The company first announced its codec at a developer’s preview at MacWorld Expo in January 1997.
Craig Federighi is an American engineer and business executive who is the senior vice president (SVP) of software engineering at Apple Inc. He oversees the development of Apple's operating systems. His teams are responsible for delivering the software of Apple's products, including the user interface, applications, and frameworks.
Adobe Shockwave Player was a freeware software plug-in for viewing multimedia and video games created on the Adobe Shockwave platform in web pages. Content was developed with Adobe Director and published on the Internet. Such content could be viewed in a web browser on any computer with the Shockwave Player plug-in installed. It was first developed by Macromedia and released in 1995; it was later acquired by Adobe Systems in 2005.