Steve Jobs is done playing games. Following a whirlwind of speculation and debate in the technology community, he finally decided to add a plain terms account of exactly why Apple has decided to block Adobe Flash from its app store and mobile devices. The result is a pointed (at times incisive) letter with 6 distinct reasons for Apple’s latest move. The letter makes a couple of strong arguments, but does it ultimately tell of the real reason Apple has given Flash the mobile boot?

Jobs opens his appeal in a reminiscent tone, recounting the times when Apple and Adobe had a deep collaborative relationship. He then identifies something the whole tech industry already knew: Flash is blocked from Apple mobile devices. The remainder of his testimony expands on why they made the decision:

1. Adobe Flash is Proprietary – Apple has added to the open web languages, and poo poo on Flash for not doing so. While Flash is widely popular/up to date now, I’m sure Apple would hate to see it go the way of ColdFusion and result in a bunch of outdated apps in their store. VALID
2. Full Web – Here jobs merely states that he thinks full web can be defined as one where video is not served in Flash. This is not so strong an argument, though he does list a pretty killer list of brands that support the Apple mobile device compatible H.264 video format. SEMANTICS
3. Reliability, Security and Performance – Everybody (even people outside the tech industry) know that Flash is resource intensive. With the growing power of desktop/laptop computers, this has become less of an issue – but it can be understood as to why we might be experiencing a relapse as the popularity of mobile devices grows. As for “reliability”, we’ve all been to sites that serve up Adobe Flash error codes because somebody hasn’t quite mastered Action script. Sometimes said error codes even render the site unusable. VALID
4. Battery Life – The hard cold facts of software based graphics rendering vs. hardware based: 5 hrs of battery life running video from Flash vs 10 hrs of H.264 video (rendered by hardware). For those of us on the go in the long stretch, this is a serious figure. VALID
5. Touch – Here Jobs is arguing that you can’t do rollover effects with a touch device, and that it’s essential to Flash. I’d call this a drawback on the part of Apple devices, since many websites (of all coding varieties) rely on mouse rollover effects for essential interaction. WEAK
6. “The Most Important Reason” – Is a return to point #1: Flash is proprietary. Adobe updates Flash when it wants to and Apple doesn’t like the idea of a 3rd party software developer being between the developer community and its devices. Is middleman essential to the process? No? Then throw him out the door. Enter HTML5/CSS3/JavaScript – an open code, run by a panel of global technology leaders – updated based on the needs of the tech industry.

The Whamo Blamo Conclusion Paragraph

Steve Jobs wraps up his attack on Adobe with a few harsh final statements about their Flash product. Here are my favorites:

Flash was created during the PC era – for PCs and mice.

Perhaps Adobe should focus more on creating great HTML5 tools for the future, and less on criticizing Apple for leaving the past behind.

Zing! No but really, I’m glad Jobs took the time to put together a plain talk round up of why Apple is shutting the door on Flash. I found the article to be enlightening, though I’m still not completely sold on the fact that Apple is doing what it is simply for technological reasons. As big companies fight for control over our internet/mobile lives, we are the witnessing lines being drawn in the sand:

• Microsoft creates Bing and tattles on Google for privacy/business issues
• Google gets in bed with Adobe Flash as Apple forbids it from the future of its mobile devices
• Apple creates the iPad – in direct competition with Amazon’s Kindle

As a consumer – I can hardly complain. I was a little bummed when I dug into my first iPhone and navigated to some of my favorite sites only to find a blue square and a question mark in place of the Flash I needed to actually interact. Ultimately, I don’t miss Flash on the iPhone that much.

This is the way our economy was built: have the major companies compete for our dollars, keeping prices low and innovation fierce. As a designer, I’m a big fan of an HTML5/CSS3 web, rather than a web where the “coolest” sites are dominated by Flash.

In an Utopian society, I’m sure Flash and Apple could get their differences figured out. I mean – Google and Flash are in bed. But Apple has decided where to lead onto next, and I wouldn’t be surprised if this serves up a big hurt to Flash adoption in the near future.

The infamous Steve Jobs letter: http://www.apple.com/hotnews/thoughts-on-flash/