Why did Apple press Flash Forward?
Apple vs. Adobe – the contest to win over the mobile space.
In the past couple of weeks, there has been a war of words between Apple and Adobe. At the centre of the debate: openness.
Here is a cool Flash video that illustrates what this public debate surely looks like from an industry outsider’s point of view (just right click below, click play):
In the telecommunication space, the web is a key weapon that various players are trying to grab but standardization sometimes gets in the way. We have reached an inflection point in the software area, standards have to be defined to deliver flexibility and cost efficiency. That kind of sets the scene.
Now, Apple has been pressing hard to deliver its own standard, HTML5, and expects it to be widely adopted by the developer community. HTML5 is the new language used to design web pages. It aims to reduce the need for proprietary plug-in-based rich internet application (RIA) technologies such as Adobe Flash, Microsoft Silverlight, or Sun JavaFX.
Hence, a couple of weeks ago, Steve Jobs – Apple’s CEO – published a letter entitled “Thoughts on Flash” to explain why Apple’s iPad, iPhones and iPod Touch will never use Adobe’s Flash. Jobs stated that:
Flash was created during the PC era – for PCs and mice. Flash is a successful business for Adobe, and we can understand why they want to push it beyond PCs. But the mobile era is about low power devices, touch interfaces and open web standards – all areas where Flash falls short.
Consequently, Adobe’s cofounders, Chuck Geschke and John Warnock, wrote back to say that Adobe Flash is brilliant and that – basically – Apple is not the only fish in the pond as there are plenty of other telecom players happy to work with Flash. In their letter entitled “Our Thoughts on Open Markets”, the cofounders explain that:
If the web fragments into closed systems, if companies put content and applications behind walls, some indeed may thrive — but their success will come at the expense of the very creativity and innovation that has made the Internet a revolutionary force.
The software area in the mobile telecommunication world is very fragmented. On one hand, Apple is trying to protect its walled garden and make sure that they get the most value out of it. In order to do so, they need the maximum of developers’ commitments which will be certain if HTML5 is widely adopted. On the other hand, Adobe has been working hard to create a cross-platform from which developers could write one application that could be delivered to any devices from any manufacturers. This is the Open Screen Project that they have been working on with a coalition of partners such as Google or RIM (Blackberry).
Apple and Adobe have two different ideas of what openness means. For Apple, openness means an opened but syndicated platform for developers to generate more value from iPhones, iPads and iPod Touch. For Adobe, openness means an opened cross-platform that will make web experiences seamlessly available on any mobile device. Two different priorities, two different reach.
But which one is likely to win? Which one will still be in the market place in a few years? As Geschke and Warnock puts it in their letter, to the question: who controls the World Wide Web? They believe that the answer is: “nobody — and everybody, but certainly not a single company.” I agree with them though, choice is good.
Apple just wants this transition to HTML5 to happen faster otherwise it risks being isolated from content that consumers want. As for Adobe, I believe that Apple’s criticism was just a wake-up call to be more pro-active in tackling new opportunities in a timely manner. Ideally, Apple would like to see Adobe making its Flash product compatible to greater extents with HTML5 to add value to it.
Either way, let’s go watch The Other Guys on a very large screen.
