Adobe Blinks First in Flash Battle with Apple

On Monday, Adobe (ADBE) announced Flash 10.1 (not Flash Lite) will be available in beta for Windows Mobile and webOS in 2009, and Android, BlackBerry and Symbian in 2010. Adding support for the Research in Motion (RIMM) platform to the previously announced list leaves only one smartphone conspicuously absent.

Apple (AAPL) has been conspicuously rejecting Flash for a variety of reasons, both implicitly and by explicit Steve Jobs pronouncements. It uses its terms of service to ban such technologies. PC World argues that Apple is fighting Flash to protect its App Store business model against encroachments by direct Flash downloads.

In the Apple vs. Adobe battle of wills, Adobe seems to have blinked first: also on Monday, Adobe announced it is making a Flash to iPhone App translator, so that individual applications can be translated one at a time. This solves the iPhone performance issue but does not provide Flash-infested websites for iPhone/iPod Touch owners.

I once predicted that Apple could say no to Flash as long as RIM stood with it; by this time next year, iPhone users will stand alone. Will Apple announce Flash for the iPhone by then? If it’s a performance issue, eventually Apple will say yes. I think the odds are 1:3 that the iPhone still won’t have Flash on its 5th anniversary.

Comments

[drbob:]

I am happy the iPhone doesn't have FLASH.

Adobe is doing a good job playing 'poor pitiful me...'

Oct 06 08:25 AM

[Uncle Miltie:]

Let me know when Flash won't cause all the fans on my Mac to go into overdrive, and then I'll believe that an iPhone version is not going to instantly drain my battery every time a pop-up flash ad wants to tell me about how great Cialis is.

Flash is horribly written and processor hungry. Keep it off my iPhone until Adobe fixes it.

Oct 06 09:13 AM

[Jon T:]

Flash is a mess, it's day of reckoning is coming.

I truly hope Apple wins out on this and one day we see it die, to be replaced by truly open, html 5. Free, open and efficient for everyone, mobile or not.

RIM will go with Flash only to make a differentiator from the iPhone, which might fool about a dozen people or so...

Oct 06 09:36 AM

[redeye:]

Really? You want open and free, and your rooting for Apple?? Flash will eventually break into Apple's walled garden. Not for any of the reasons mentioned. The web is monetized by ad revenue, and no one will write ads or apps that do not support that model. The war is already over. Adobe didn't blink. They offered an olive branch.

Oct 06 10:52 AM

[brewer:]

Apple is the most open and free system there is. It's open because they promote open standards, not windows-only proprietary options. It's free of viruses, obfuscation, headaches and ancient 'technology' such as registries, BIOS, etc...

But if it makes you feel 'smart' to use the COPY of Mac OS which is Windows, then go for it. Just don't kid yourself.

Oct 06 02:31 PM

[PeterB:]

Curious. The NeXT computer used a form of Adobe's PDF for the display, and the current MAC operating system is largely derived from the operating system used on that machine (a Unix variant). Old allies fall apart!

Oct 14 05:13 AM