Moving Forward
This morning Apple posted some thoughts about Flash on their web site. — The primary issue at hand is that Apple is choosing to block Adobe's — widely used runtimes as well as a variety of technologies from other — providers. — Clearly, a lot of people are passionate about both Apple and Adobe and
Context & Ripple Effects
The dispute follows Apple’s public characterization of Flash as closed and proprietary a week earlier. Adobe’s response frames the issue less as a technical argument than as control over which third-party runtimes may reach Apple’s platform.
The stakes extend beyond Flash: Adobe identifies a broader constraint on outside technologies, putting the companies’ long-standing historical ties beside a direct conflict over developer access.
First-order effects
- Adobe and developers using its runtimes face an immediate platform-distribution constraint if Apple enforces the policy described by Adobe.
- Apple gains tighter control over the technologies used to build software for its platform, while Adobe must defend the relevance of its runtime tools to affected developers.
Second-order effects
- Developers targeting Apple’s platform have a stronger incentive to use Apple-approved development paths, reducing the addressable role of cross-platform runtime vendors in that channel.
- Other runtime providers are drawn into the same access dispute because Adobe says the restriction reaches technologies beyond Flash.
Third-order effects
- If platform owners make runtime approval a condition of distribution, mobile software ecosystems shift from broad tool compatibility toward platform-governed development stacks.
- The Adobe-Apple clash is an early test of whether ‘openness’ in software is defined by a runtime’s availability or by a platform owner’s control of distribution.
The trend: Mobile platforms are becoming gatekeepers not only of app distribution but also of the developer technologies permitted to reach users.