JavaScript vs Flash, Adobe vs Apple… Adobe claims Steve Jobs is ignoring Flash to make a few extra dollars.
Adobe claims that Steve Jobs has refused to make his products such as the iPhone, iPad and the iPod compatable with Adobe’s Flash product in order to make a few extra bucks in his App stores.
Not true answered Steve Jobs. In his response to Adobe’s claims, Jobs highlighted six specific reasons Apple shies away from Adobe Flash.
1. Openness
Adobe’s products including Flash are proprietary products and are only available from Adobe. Job states “By almost any definition, Flash is a closed system.” He acknowledges that Apple also has many proprietary products but that Apple believes all Web standards should be open. In an effort to support this belief, Apple has adopted HTML5, CSS and JavaScript, which are all open standards. Additionally, Jobs also points at the openness of WebKit, which is the open-source HTML5 rendering engine used in the Safari browser.
2. Full Web
Abobe claims that without Flash users are not allowed access to the “full Web,” since most of the video currently on the internet is flash based. However, there are a variety of of App Store apps from various media outlets including YouTube, Netflix, and Facebook, which according to Jobs, proves that “users aren’t missing much video.” Additionally Jobs points out that there are over 50,000 games available in the App Store that are just as good as the flash based games that Apple product users are not able to use.
3. Reliability, Security, and Performance
Jobs claims “Flash is the number one reason Macs crash” and he doesn’t want to “reduce the reliability and security of our iPhones, iPods and iPads by adding Flash.” He went further by saying that Adobe has not demonstrated a workable version of Flash on a mobile device despite repeated requests that Adobe provide a viable version of Flash on a mobile device. “We have routinely asked Adobe to show us Flash performing well on a mobile device, any mobile device, for a few years now. We have never seen it,” Jobs said.
4. Battery Life
Flash decodes in the software, which according to Jobs shortens battery life. A better solution is to decode in the video hardware. “Although Flash has recently added support for H.264, the video on almost all Flash Web sites currently required an older generation decoder that is not implemented in mobile chips and must be run in software,”Jobs further stated. According to Jobs, decoding in the software can reduce the battery life up to 5 hours on an iPhone.
5. Touch
Flash was designed for PCs with mice and rely on pop-up, roll-over menus. Apple’s iPhone, iPad and Ipod do not use mice and have rollovers are alien to these devices. As a result, Flash web sites need to be re-written to support touch devices. Jobs adds “If developers need to rewrite their flash websites, why not use modern technologies like HTML5, CSS and JavaScript?”
6. Third-party Apps.
Adobe wants application developers to develop third-party apps that run on Apple devices. According to Jobs, this could result in a “painful experience” that “results in sub-standard apps that hinder the enhancement and progress of the platform. He further goes on to say that Apple “cannot be at the mercy of a third party deciding if and when they will make our enhancements available to our developers.” According to Jobs, Adobe has no interest in writing apps for the iPhone, iPad or iPod. He states, “It is their goal to help developers write cross platform apps.” He further adds “Adobe has been painfully slow to adopt enhancements to Apple’s platforms.”
Jobs concluded by accusing Adobe of running an antiquated system that was “created during the PC era – for PCs and mice. “Flash falls short when it comes to mobile applications.
With Internet Explorer’s next version being reported to finally suppoprt HTML5, the battle between Flash and JavaScript will heat up. Open source web standards, including JavaScript are available to all users and developers, which will be one of the strong reasons why web designers with a strong background in JavaScript will be more in demand in the future.
