Adobe Systems Acquires Glassbook Inc.

Adobe Systems dropped what is arguably the biggest news so far at Seybold Seminars 2000 with the announcement it has acquired Glassbook Inc. for undisclosed terms. Adobe has already shown its commitment to the emerging eBooks industry with the release of Adobe Acrobat Reader with WebBuy, but this further acquisition demonstrates just how seriously the company is taking its position in the nascent eBooks industry.

The two companies have already developed a strong alliance, announcing back in March at Seybold Seminars 2000 Boston that Adobe would be licensing the Glassbook user interface technology, but the acquisition of all the Glassbook products arguably gives Adobe an edge when it comes to delivering and securing copyrighted materials. As part of this acquisition, Adobe will also gain the team of experienced eBook professionals from Glassbook comprising of engineers, sales staff and business development personnel.

According to Adobe's press release, "Glassbook personnel will join Adobe’s eBook team and continue to work on a shared mission of creating open, standards-based eBook solutions, based on Adobe PDF, that offer the most robust and convenient eBook buying and reading experience..."

Glassbook, which was founded in 1998 by Lotus Notes co-inventor Len Kawell, only got itself on the map 10 months ago with the first release of its software, the Glassbook Reader, and more recently with its involvement as the primary provider of the PDF-based version of Stephen King's much talked about eBook, Riding the Bullet. The company has focused heavily on the development of the Electronic Book Exchange (EBX) standard, which is a specification for handling copyright-protected eBooks. EBX is now managed by the Book Industry Study Group (BISG).

The existing partnership had already generated the announcement that future versions of Acrobat would be incorporating the Glassbook interface, which was designed specifically for the online reading experience. At this stage it is not totally clear how and when Glassbook's technology will be utilized in Acrobat, but it is likely that it will mean an interface change for the existing Acrobat Reader. A side benefit for Adobe of this acquisition is that, excluding some lesser known readers, consumers now only have one choice when it comes to selecting a PDF-based eBook Reader for PCs.

Glassbook announced only last week that it had formed an alliance with key provider of digital fulfillment services, such as secure conversion, distribution of digital content, as well as print-on-demand services, Lightning Source. What the latest news from Adobe means in the context of this deal is anyone's guess.