Reinventing the Media Businesses

The media businesses (newspapers, television, movies, music, book publishing) are all facing daunting challenges as the Internet grows, and the advertising models shift.

This talk will informally cover observations about the trends in these businesses and why it is so difficult for established companies to reinvent themselves.

Presenter(s)

John E. Warnock is Co-chairman of the Board of Directors of Adobe Systems, Inc., a company he co-founded in 1982 with Charles Geschke. Dr. Warnock was President of Adobe for his first two years, and Chairman and CEO for his remaining 16 years at Adobe. Warnock has pioneered the development of world-renowned graphics, publishing, Web and electronic document technologies that have revolutionized the field of publishing and visual communication. Dr. Warnock holds six patents.

Warnock's entrepreneurial success has been chronicled by some of the country's most influential business and computer industry publications, and he has received numerous awards for technical and managerial achievement. A partial list of awards includes: Entrepreneur of the Year from Ernst & Young, Merrill Lynch, and Inc. Magazine; University of Utah Distinguished Alumnus Award; Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) Software Systems Award; Award for Technical Excellence from the National Graphics Association; and the first Rhode Island School of Design Distinguished Service to Art and Design International Award.

Warnock has also received the Edwin H. Land Award from the Optical Society of America, the Bodleian Medal from Oxford University, and the Lovelace Medal from the British Computer Society. Warnock is a distinguished member of the National Academy of Engineering, and has received Honorary Degrees from the University of Utah and the American Film Institute.

Warnock has been a member of the board of directors of Adobe Systems Inc., Knight-Ridder, Octavo Corporation, Ebrary Inc., Mongonet Inc., Netscape communications, and Salon Media Group. He is past Chairman of the Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose. He also has served on the Board of Trustees of the American Film Institute, and is on the Board of the Sundance Institute.

Before co-founding Adobe Systems, Warnock was principal scientist at Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC). Prior to joining Xerox, Warnock held key positions at Evans & Sutherland Computer Corporation, Computer Sciences Corporation, IBM, and the University of Utah.

Warnock holds BS and MS degrees in Mathematics and a PhD in Electrical Engineering all from the University of Utah.