Adobe vs. Apple (AKA Are you crazy Mr. Jobs!)
Kevin Cagno April 17, 2010

There has been a lot of things written on the topic of Apple's refusal to allow the Flash pug-in on any of the apple "I" products. Here is a quick overview of events so far.

In order to not bore you with all the details I will leave it at this and just explain the ramifications for the consumers and developers.

If you can't tell I am not sympathetic towards Apple or Steve Jobs. I think that the real losers in all of this are the consumers and developers although the ultimate loser in the end may be Apple shareholders. Flash has it's problems but it gets a bad rap by some because of the poor programming done by some Flash developers. So if Apple is doing this in the name of quality control why not attack the developers instead of Adobe. Apple and Adobe have been having a feud brewing for years and this is just the manifestations of those tensions. The problem is that Steve Jobs is trying to control the entire experience of the end user in the name of quality and in the process he is just controlling and limiting the end users experience. If a person is fine with Apple's version of the the experience then enjoy. They make some of the best devices around.

I for one do not like someone else dictating to me the way I view something or what I view. Now some of you may be saying isn't that what Adobe does with Flash? My answer to that is no. Flash has become as popular as it is because it gives you a rich internet experience. They don't tell you how to use it or what you can use it for. They leave that up to the individual. Adobe does not tell anyone that you can't design this or that or need to design only this way for Flash content. In fact there is other software that allows you to create Flash content. So what does this mean to you? It means that if you choose to use an Apple "i" device you are limited to the experience they want for you and it does not include Flash which is a significant portion of the web. It also means that Flash developers and other developers using cross platform compilers to write apps will no longer be writing apps for the iPhone OS (which is used by the iPod Touch and iPad) and the consumer will miss out.

Some have said, Good that means less junk on the app store. Have you seen the app store? 150,000+ apps which includes lots of "crap" and poorly written apps. So I would say that means that the consumer is already inundated with garbage apps and may miss out on some really good ones because of Steve Jobs refusal to embrace Flash. I for one can't wait for the other tablets that are going to be hitting the market by the end of the summer. (HP Slate and Notion Ink Adam) If I were Apple I would be looking over you shoulder at the devices embracing the Android OS and all the developers that will be developing for them. This is why if I was a stock holder in Apple I would be worried about my investment long term. Right now the competition is limited but it is not going to remain that way and the competition is going to be stiff.

Apple has had long reputation for innovation and quality. They have also been known as control freaks. They make great devices, but so do some of the other guys. I personally do not own any "i" devices but my kids do and they love them. I also have many friends and relatives that have iPones. For many of them they find they couldn't live without them. But I do here quit often how they wish it would support Flash content. The other day I got a chance to see an iPad in person I was impressed with the quality of the graphics. I was not impressed with the experience anymore than using an iPod Touch. I think Apple will find once the novelty wears off and the short comings of the iPad become more noticeable. People are going to expect more from a larger display and the problem is that they will not get anymore than just a larger display than the iPod Touch.

Competition is a great thing. It makes everything better. Without competition people and things get complacent and don't strive to do more. Apple is around because they have always been able to make innovative products that they made people believe they could not live without. The make computers that people are willing to pay top dollar for and feel like they are getting a deal. They are an amazing marketing machine and have a very loyal following. However, they need to be careful because no matter how good their hardware is people have used them because of the experience of using the software. No one used to be competitive in the experience but I think that is changing and Apple needs to realize that excluding 80% of the internet from their devices is not going to help them.

I hope Apple and Adobe can patch things up and get along because the consumer is going to be the loser in the end.