ADOBE on the rise?

I really think that Adobe has something powerful with Flex/AIR. And with them moving into the mobile (cellphone) arena, that only makes them even more attractive. I read Cringleys article about the potential for APPLE purchasing ADOBE. From the article "So why, then, was Apple quietly shopping around its entire professional application business to prospective buyers at the recently completed National Association of Broadcasters show in Las Vegas? These include Aperture, Final Cut Pro, Logic, and Shake -- applications that are hardly also-rans in their segments and none of which are antiquated in the least. Final Cut, of course, absolutely dominates the video editing business. Why would Apple want to give that up?"
Even if APPLE never intends to buy ADOBE (which is hard to swallow), this may hint at the underlying value of ADOBE in the marketplace. But, could the opening up of Flex & SWFs mean that it is giving up control for product dominance? FYI - ADBE stock at $40 (as of Friday May 2nd) and AAPL stock at $181 (as of Friday May 2nd)