Adobe CEO, Ex-Adobe Engineers Weigh In on Jobs' Flash Attack
In an open letter published Thursday, Steve Jobs outlined a half dozen reasons why Apple is not supporting Flash on its mobile platform. Adobe's CEO has defended Flash in response to Jobs, but some ex-Adobe employees interviewed …
Context & Ripple Effects
Apple's iPhone and iPad already lack Flash support, turning Steve Jobs' published case against the technology into more than a technical disagreement. An earlier account of Jobs' opposition to Flash had framed the dispute as a widening Apple-Adobe rift.
The practical pressure is visible in publishing: Condé Nast and Adobe rebuilt Wired's iPad app to meet Apple's Flash-free requirements after Apple rejected the original version. Adobe's chief executive's defense therefore addresses a platform-access issue affecting the company's customers as well as its software.
First-order effects
- Adobe must publicly defend Flash while its customers targeting Apple's mobile devices must deliver without it; the Wired rebuild provides an immediate example.
- Apple's Flash-free iPhone and iPad environment gives Apple the final say over the technologies publishers and developers can use for those devices.
Second-order effects
- Condé Nast and other publishers building for iPad face added redevelopment work when Flash-based designs must be replaced to meet Apple's requirements.
- Adobe's mobile value proposition is pressured as Apple-bound customers prioritize tools and formats that fit the iPhone and iPad environment.
Third-order effects
- If major device platforms continue to exclude cross-platform runtimes, developers and publishers will increasingly optimize around each platform owner's approved software stack rather than a single web technology.
- The Apple-Adobe conflict points to platform policy becoming a competitive lever: access to users can determine which developer tools remain viable in a mobile market.
The trend: Mobile platform owners are exerting greater control over application technologies, forcing software vendors and publishers to adapt their products to device-specific rules.