Since the release of Apple’s iPad, and with it Apple’s ongoing commitment to HTML5 and open standards for video,there have been tech industry pot shots going back and forth between Adobe and Apple virtually everyday about Apple’s decision to discontinue support for Adobe’s Flash technology. Now, with an open letter written by Steve Jobs made public the other day, it seems these pot shots have now become all out war.
Today, Adobe returned fire with a response slamming Jobs’ claims that Flash is unstable, insecure and hinders performance. Jobs further decried Flash as an outdated, closed technology that is not suited for mobile devices with touch screen interfaces. On the surface, these claims seem like in your face insults to Adobe and this technology platform that has been well established since the late 90′s.
The Facts
The truth is, Steve Jobs is right. From industry developers, consultants and techies across the web and around the world. Flash is not only dead, it has had its hey day and simply never caught on as it was intended to.
Since the late 90′s me and my tech buddies were dreaming of a day when all web sites would be 100% Flash based. HTML was dead (we thought) and today, there’s some amount of Flash on what seems like nearly every web site we visit, but those sites are still primarily HTML and Javascript based. Flash became the de-facto standard for showing cross platform, cross browser video on a web page.
So what’s the problem with Flash? Why hasn’t it truly taken over the world? Why has CNN, Wall Street Journal and many many other sites removed Flash based video from their web presences?
Because Steve Jobs is correct. Flash is difficult. The development tools, originally created by Macromedia (later acquired by Adobe in April of 2005) are cumbersome, unfriendly and non-standard to web developers. Flash, as a technology platform is CLOSED, you must rely on Adobe (a corporate monolith, slow to adapt) to update its tools, close security holes and support new hardware platforms. To view Flash on the web you must also install a 3rd party plugin for your web browser. If the plugin does not exist, you cannot view the content. This has been a confusing issue for users over the years.
Flash, as Steve Jobs implies, is an outdated technology, and Adobe with their “return fire” is trying to paint Apple as a controlling tech entity blocking out others’ technology for their own greed and corporate interests. In reality, all of the claims that Jobs made in his open letter are true and accurate, from a technical as well as user experience perspective. Apple simply wants to move forward away from closed standards and a technology that was needed in its day but has long since been deemed outdated.
So what do we do? What replaces Flash…especially video?
As I’ve read recently in a headline, it really was HTML5 that killed Flash, not Apple. HTML5 is cross browser, cross platform and requires no special plugins. It runs natively to a web browser, runs on existing iPhones, Blackberries, iPads and other smartphones and is an OPEN Standard.
So, Adobe, let it go. Let’s move forward. Flash is dead.