It’s astonishing to see huge industry giants like Apple and Adobe arguing in public. It started with Apple boss Steve Jobs posting a forthright rant against Flash, Adobe’s proprietary multimedia technology for the web.
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It seems that as far as Jobs is concerned, the fact that Flash is proprietary and closed means it doesn’t deserve a place on the web, which Jobs says should be built entirely with open standards.
A lot of people think that’s a bit rich coming from Steve Jobs, whose business is largely built on proprietary closed technologies. They argue that he’s only in favour of an open web because it suits him to be, and that in reality, he won’t allow Flash on the iPhone because it would bring the device to its knees and kill the battery.
Adobe isn’t taking this lying down, either. It has taken the row to the media, taking out full-page ads in newspapers that declare: “We Heart Apple”.
“We love the web,” they say. “We love apps. We love touchscreens.”
But: “What we don’t love is anybody taking away your freedom to choose what you create, how you create it, and what you experience on the web.”
Ouch.
Many of us at Boson have got iPhones because they are simply wonderful devices, but we wish Apple and Adobe would kiss and make up. And we’re leaning towards Adobe’s side in this argument; we’d like to see Flash supported. Ideally, give us the choice. Make Flash an option we can toggle on and off with a simple gesture. Let us be free to experience the web our way.
We’re biased, of course, because we’re nerds and we often use Flash in our web projects. It’s a sign of Apple’s success (and Jobs’ willpower) that the lack of Flash doesn’t seem to have had any effect on sales of iPhones and iPads to date. The average consumer may not know what Flash is, and won’t want to know. All that matters to them is that the video they’ve chosen to watch on YouTube plays when they click on it.
After all, if people were really bothered about closed and open technology standards, they wouldn’t be buying iPhones and iPads in the first place.
