Adobe should focus more on creating great HTML5 tools

by Justin Horn on Apr 29th, 2010 @ 10:43 am

UPDATE Check out this comparison of Steve Jobs dropping flash to Henry Ford leaving the steam engine.

Steve Jobs has just released an open letter about flash. I think this is a well timed letter, should shift the focus from the whole gizmodo thing back to Adobe vs Apple. He covers 6 main points that are always brought up about flash on mobile. I will quickly quote and summarize them:

Openness
Flash is proprietary and the web should be open, iPhone OS is not the web.

Full web
Adobe claims 75% of video on the web is in Flash, but H.264 has already come a long way and this is no longer true.

Reliability, security and performance
“Symantec recently highlighted Flash for having one of the worst security records in 2009. We also know first hand that Flash is the number one reason Macs crash.”

Battery Life
“Although Flash has recently added support for H.264, the video on almost all Flash websites currently requires an older generation decoder that is not implemented in mobile chips and must be run in software. The difference is striking: on an iPhone, for example, H.264 videos play for up to 10 hours, while videos decoded in software play for less than 5 hours before the battery is fully drained.”

Flash isn’t made for touch
“Flash was designed for PCs using mice, not for touch screens using fingers. For example, many Flash websites rely on “rollovers”, which pop up menus or other elements when the mouse arrow hovers over a specific spot. Apple’s revolutionary multi-touch interface doesn’t use a mouse, and there is no concept of a rollover. Most Flash websites will need to be rewritten to support touch-based devices. If developers need to rewrite their Flash websites, why not use modern technologies like HTML5, CSS and JavaScript?”

Using flash as an interpreter between true iPhone apps
“We know from painful experience that letting a third party layer of software come between the platform and the developer ultimately results in sub-standard apps and hinders the enhancement and progress of the platform. If developers grow dependent on third party development libraries and tools, they can only take advantage of platform enhancements if and when the third party chooses to adopt the new features. We cannot be at the mercy of a third party deciding if and when they will make our enhancements available to our developers.”

This last point is exactly what John Gruber suggested in an article 3 weeks ago, I guess this is why Steve responded to an email saying “We think John Gruber’s post is very insightful and not negative”.

Honestly there is no difference between Apple moving away from Flash and when they were the first to stop support for the floppy drive. I mean Apple is starting to scale back it’s support for firewire, a standard they helped create. Apple likes to set trends, not follow them. Even though the floppy has been dead in most peoples eyes for some years now, it’s now official: Sony Announces the Death of the Floppy Disk.

I see a similar announcement for Adobe in the not to distant future, then Gruber can “claim chowder” the “Apple is evil” crowd.

(via Mashable)

Follow me on Twitter @justin_horn

View 1 Comments
Apple vs ?, iPad, iPhone, iPod

1.
1. NookSurfer

   April 29th, 2010 2:03 pm

   

   Looks like Apple just made an informal proposal to Adobe….You want Apple to include you in our products, give me a piece of the pie. This really defines the meaning of nothing’s free in the world. Apple’s got a great strategy and hats off to Steve Jobs.

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