Apple boss Steve Jobs explains ban on Flash

[Camy]

Apple boss Steve Jobs explains ban on Flash

Steve Jobs has used an open letter to defend Apple's decision not to allow Flash on many of the firm's products.

Neither the iPod, iPhone nor iPad can run the software despite the widespread use of Flash technology on websites for video and animations.

He said Flash was made for an era of "PCs and mice" and performed poorly when translated to run on touchscreen smartphones and handheld devices.

The head of Adobe called the highlighted problems "a smokescreen".

'Restrictive practices'

The letter comes soon after Flash creator Adobe announced it would stop making tools that allow developers to quickly translate Flash code to run on Apple gadgets.

These allowed developers to make applications once and then distribute them for use on various phones and operating systems, including Apple's iPhone.

Adobe's announcement followed a change to the terms and conditions of the licence that software developers must sign when writing code to run on Apple products.

That change banned developers from using automatic translation tools, effectively forcing them to develop two applications - one for Apple products and one for everything else.

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Adobe has yet to issue a response.

[The Pecman]

Damn! You beat me to it, Camy.

Good piece, though. Many additional thoughts and commentary are in this article on Engadget. Steve Jobs' unedited editorial ("Thoughts on Flash") are at this link on Apple's website.

They're partly critical to Jobs, but concedes that Flash has issues with a lot of new portable devices (iPhone, iPad), and that more-efficient systems are better in certain ways. The problem is getting all the web designers of the world to move away from Flash and towards HTML5, and that's like trying to turn around an enormous, gigantic elephant. (More like moving an angry herd of T-Rexes.)

[Camy]

Damn! You beat me to it, Camy.

I think it's a big mistake. Apple may not think flash is very good, but it is pretty much ubiquitous. I would love an iPad, but am highly dubious if a lot of content will be un-viewable.

Camy

[Drewbie]

I think it's a big mistake. Apple may not think flash is very good, but it is pretty much ubiquitous. I would love an iPad, but am highly dubious if a lot of content will be un-viewable.

Camy

Right, flash at times sucks for playing video but it's gotten better, and I have downloaded flv files and they have improved, but still need improving, apple although I love them , need to allow flash on their mobile devices. hmtl5 might take years to even got to every site.