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Two weeks after Apple CEO Steve Jobs attacked Adobe over the proprietary nature of its Flash technology, top Adobe brass fired back Thursday with an open letter of their own.
Their claim: If anyone is holding back progress with closed technology, it's Apple.
"No company -- no matter how big or how creative -- should dictate what you can create, how you create it, or what you can experience on the web," wrote Adobe founders Chuck Geschke and John Warnock, in an open letter advertised in newspapers and on prominent websites including Wired.com.
"We believe that Apple, by taking the opposite approach, has taken a step that could undermine this next chapter of the web -- the chapter in which mobile devices outnumber computers, any individual can be a publisher, and content is accessed anywhere and at any time."
Those are fighting words -- but Apple started it, as a 5-year-old would say. Here's how Adobe's defense stands up to Steve Jobs' six arguments against the iPhone OS adding Flash support:
1: Mobile vs. Desktop
Apple, which supported and continues to support Flash on the desktop, says Adobe created Flash for computers, not battery- and processor-starved touchscreen mobile devices with no rollover capability. Flash-based sites and apps would need to be rewritten for touchscreen devices -- and at that point, they might as well be written into an open standard such as HTML5, according to Jobs.
Adobe's executives vaguely claim "the best way to compete is to create the best technology and innovate faster than your competitors." And, "when markets are open, anyone with a great idea has a chance to drive innovation and find new customers." Elsewhere in Adobe's campaign, the company claims that incremental improvements in Flash's performance have dealt with the battery-life problem somewhat; that Flash (which often relies on mouse rollover, as Jobs pointed out) was designed specifically for mouse-free, touch-sensitive tablets; and that the latest version of Flash provides "a complete set of multitouch and gesture APIs" (that nobody knows how to use) for presenting content on touch-sensitive screens.
Winner: Apple
2: Openness vs. Closedness
Apple prefers that its iPhone OS, arguably the most closed computing platform ever to exist, use open technologies such as HTML5 rather than proprietary standards like Flash. As one friend said, "How the hell is Flash open? This is retarded. And how is HTML5 closed? [Is Adobe] on drugs?"
Adobe published the specifications for Flash with no restrictions in 2009, after publishing them with heavy restrictions beginning in 1998. The more recently posted specs allow any developer to create their own Flash player -- the market just seems to prefer Adobe's, according to that company's co-founders. Besides, they claim, Flash "actively supports" the standards HTML4, HTML5, CSS and H.264 and joined the Open Screen Project in conjunction with Google and RIM.
Winner: This is a tough one, but considering that anyone can code a Flash player now -- including Apple -- and Apple's own restrictions on developers for its own app platform, the edge in this round goes to Adobe.
- Serving Up the "Full" Web
Apple apparently doesn't care about those annoying blanked out spaces that users of its Safari browser see when they surf to a web page featuring an unsupported Flash video or other application using an iPhone OS device. Apple has a long history of abandoning presently accepted technology (see the floppy disk, the integrated modem, Firewire) in favor of whatever Steve Jobs thinks people will use next.
In this case, he appears to think Apple is dominant enough to force web developers to abandon Flash in favor of other video and interactive technologies such as H.264 and HTML5, and some are already doing so, in some cases by designating themselves as "iPad-ready." Even Google's YouTube transcoded videos to H.264 when the original iPhone was released, and recently has added an HTML5 viewing option, presumably with the iPad in mind.
Adobe points out that it currently delivers video and interactive elements to hundreds of millions of web users, which represents a massive install base. In addition, it says 75 percent of web video is viewed using Flash Player software. IPhone OS devices will never be able to access legacy web pages whose developers didn't switch away from Flash, even if Jobs is right that web developers want to woo Apple users so much that they'll stop using Flash going forward.
Winner: Adobe in the short term, Apple in the long term
- Games
Apple says it doesn't matter that the iPhone OS doesn't play Flash games, because its App Store contains more 50,000 games and entertainment titles. Jobs claims, "There are more games and entertainment titles available for iPhone, iPod and iPad than for any other platform in the world," but didn't indicate how many Flash games are available on the open web.
Because Flash has been around for so long, and is the basis of so many arcade, whimsical and more substantial online games, we're not inclined to take Jobs' word on this.
The Adobe co-founders' response doesn't address gaming, but they wrote, "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." And according to Adobe, 70 percent of web games are delivered via Flash.
Winner: Adobe
- Security and Stability
Apple claims Flash has so many security loopholes that it would degrade the performance of the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch and allow hackers to attack the devices, should Apple allow it to be installed there. And anyone who uses the internet on a regular basis has most likely seen Flash crash their browser on multiple occasions.
A Mozilla developer blamed the majority of FireFox crashes on Flash at a SXSW event in March, and a renowned security expert recently advised those looking for the most secure browser, "there probably isn't enough difference between the browsers to get worked up about -- the main thing is not to install Flash!" Others agree.
Adobe's executives failed to address the issue of security and stability, but the company claims, "Security is one of the highest priorities for the Flash Player team.... Given the complexity of modern software, security vulnerabilities are going to be present.
However, Adobe has taken extensive steps to both reduce the total number of issues as well as help ensure that when issues are found we can quickly address them and provide updates to end users." It did not address Flash's tendency to crash browsers.
Winner: Apple
- Streamlining Development Tools
Apple says it refuses to depend on third-party companies such as Adobe for any technology that runs on its devices, especially in cases such as iPhone OS in which that technology must be included in an SDK used by third-party iPhone OS app developers (actually, use of Flash would make them fourth-party developers).
Adobe doesn't address this specifically, but the title of its initiative, "We [Heart] Choice" -- a sentiment echoed throughout its response -- advocates that Apple offer its app developers the option to use choice if they so desire.
Winner: Tie. Given Apple's total and occasionally capricious control over what users can install on their iPhone OS devices, we're liable to side with Adobe. But given Apple's apparently valid security concerns, and what that means for the developer community, it's even, Steven.
Total Score
In terms of the overall numbers, it's a deadlock. But considering the strength of the argument against Flash on security grounds, and industry consensus that it causes any browser to crash from time to time, we give the edge to Apple.
See Also:
- Steve Jobs Claims Flash Will Kill the Mobile Web
- Google's 'Don't Be Evil' Mantra Is 'Bullshit,' Adobe Is Lazy
- Google Fires at Apple, Integrates Flash Into Chrome Browser
- Adobe Gives Up on Flash for iPhone, iPad
- Adobe CEO, Ex-Adobe Engineers Weigh In on Jobs' Flash Attack
- Why Apple Won't Allow Adobe Flash on iPhone
- Adobe Apps: Easier to Pass Through the 'i' of a Needle?
- As Apple Barricades Flash, HDTV Embraces It
