If you’ve been paying any attention to the iPhone/iPad Flash pissing match you know it’s rather stupid. On one hand Apple is refusing to allow Flash on to their device because it could create competition to their app store ruin the battery life of their device. Adobe feels they have some kind of right to have their software placed on Apple’s platform. Well Adobe has claimed to quit attempted Flash development for the iPhone/iPad (I can’t say I blame them considering Apple went so far as to say you can only use Apple approved tools to develop for the iPhone/iPad now):
“As developers for the iPhone have learned, if you want to develop for the iPhone you have to be prepared for Apple to reject or restrict your development at any time, and for seemingly any reason,” Chambers said. “The primary goal of Flash has always been to enable cross browser, platform and device development. The cool Web game that you build can easily be targeted and deployed to multiple platforms and devices. However, this is the exact opposite of what Apple wants. They want to tie developers down to their platform, and restrict their options to make it difficult for developers to target other platforms.”
I honestly thought the point behind Flash was to waste my laptop’s battery through absurd CPU usage. But Mr. Chambers is correct in that Apple’s goal is to lock you into their platform while preventing easy cross-platform development that would make it easier for their customers to jump ship. It’s the same thing most software companies have been doing since the dawn of pay-for software. Of course the pot decided to call the kettle black:
In a response, Apple indicated its preference for a variety of up-and-coming standards that collectively compete with what Flash can do.
“Someone has it backwards–it is HTML5, CSS, JavaScript, and H.264 (all supported by the iPhone and iPad) that are open and standard, while Adobe’s Flash is closed and proprietary,” said spokeswoman Trudy Muller in a statement.
H.264 is not an open standard. People who wish to use H.264 are required to license the technology. Furthermore although the web browser on the iPhone/iPad uses HTML5, CSS, and JavaScript the applications themselves are not written using those technologies. Adobe was not only trying to get web based Flash onto the iPhone/iPad but also trying to make technology that ported Flash applications to a format that could be utilized on the iPhone/iPad which is a close platform.
Either way this debate really is stupid. Apple has no obligation to allow anything on their device they don’t want to allow. Likewise you are not obligated to purchase and use Apple’s phone/tablet if you don’t like their rules (which is why I don’t have an iPhone or iPad).