There is one helluva damning write up by Steve Jobs himself on the Apple website recently. He puts on the gloves and basically beats the snot out of Adobe over poor quality and several other key issues as to why Apple will not put Flash on any Apple devices.
After reading what he says, I agree with him.
What do you think?
I think Steve Jobs wants to union the whole world to Apple, develop a new flash player and let half of the world use his product. So to make more money.
Except a Microsoft higher up pretty much echoed Jobs’ position a few days later…
HAHAHA! That’s great!
I’m on his side, however I think simply saying “We’re not going to support it” is too broad and gives developers no time in catching up. Not that that is a really big deal.
It’s kind of like the whole multi-tasking thing with iPhone/iPad. The technology has been around for 20 years, but he’s found a way to make you pay to not have it. (until recently of course) He could easily do the same thing with Flash.
@thefirststep2000
I have to respectfully disagree with you here. Reading the whole thing, it is about using open technology that is best suited for a mobile experience. All of the points he states about Flash are bang on. I didn’t know about the reduced battery life argument…but it makes complete sense.
I think the point that you’re after is that Jobs is just as focussed on the bottom line and strategically positioning Apple as the predominant player in mobile apps…to which I say…go, Steve, go!
I really agree with him.
Maybe it’s just because it runs pisspoor on macs, or maybe it’s all those god awful flashsites out there that make me say it.
I’ve said this many times, but my favorite book on Flash is “Skip Intro”
It says volumes of how people feel about flash.
You’d have to be crazy to develop something in Flash knowing that people on iPad and iPhones won’t be able to view it.
But how do you author rich media using the alternative: HTML 5 and Javascript?
If Adobe was smart, they’d keep Flash, but have it output that instead of the proprietary .SWF format.
Adobe will jump on the HTML5 bandwagon, but like anything it will happen over a long and drawnout period of time. People currently working in flash, and using some of flashes advanced features won’t abandon it just yet. I don’t remember the name of the program but they’ve already been working on something that will convert flash files to something they can run on an iphone.
Think about how long it took for crap like IE6 to die out. ~10% of people online are STILL using IE6 to browse web pages.
HTML5 will go a long way, but the lofty goals of universal compatibility are a long way out.
and not so sure about this one:
http://101besthtml5sites.com/
I say flash is on the way out. There’s just too much work to make it behave like text.
It’ll still be around for a very long time, just for things where it makes sense.
I do have my reservations about the performance and security of javascript, however. Not that flash is any better.
Am I the only Mac user who can’t use gmail / livestream on a daily basis now, because of Flash/Mac issues? This is getting ridiculous…
I agree. I kept my external floppy drive just in case as well 
If Flash was traded on the stock market, I probably wouldn’t buy any shares for long term investment. Options, maybe.
Wait. Am I the only one still using Zip disks to back up my files?
What did your computer files do to deserve that? 
I mostly agree with him, while a cross-platform development tool could hurt Apple’s control of app development, Flash certainly can’t pull the weight.
Some stuff I don’t agree with…
Entertainment, possibly, games, no way no how, Microsoft and the subsequent 3rd party console manufacturers that utilize Microsoft OS structures has, and has had this in the bag over Apple for a long time. Game “apps” sure, but there’s a wide gap between the immersive-ness of a PC/Console title and a game app. Maybe i’m splitting hairs, or i’m a more hardcore gamer, but mobiles games kinda bore me…they’re more of a novelty for now and Apple would need to put a lot more in place to provide ground that developers can use to create the same quality as $40-$60 titles, personally I hope they do.
I would suspect this has more to do with Apple’s VPU/OS issues than anything else and the range of VPU’s you can drop in a Mac is sup-par compared to what you can drop in a PC.
It’s conceivable that it’s on the way out, but there are still so many flash-based sites and services online that simply refusing to support it because it may be on the way out is a ludicrous move, and Apple is going to suffer for it. You don’t scrap reverse compatibility and then expect everybody to get on board with whatever you think “the future” is.
Steve Jobs is not god, and does not dictate the market. He has yet to realize this, as do many of his fans.
-Josh
I am not sure I agree with that Josh. I totally understand your point, but sometimes in product development a line has to be drawn in the sand.
Do you hamstring your product due to antiquated processes or do you say, we’re going to create a product that makes sense for today moving forward.
I understand that Flash is very prevelant, and it may be good for the PC environment…I actually quite agree with Jobs with respect to his points on how Flash simply isn’t suitable for a handheld/mobile environment.
I disagree Josh.
Sent from my iPad