A lot of talk lately is about Apple not being “open” and them “shutting out” Adobe; that Apple is not giving people a choice because they’re not supporting Flash. Apple isn’t supporting Flash because it’s some master plan to “kill Adobe”, or that Jobs is still pissed at Adobe for the late 90s, or anything ridiculous like that.
You will never see Flash on the iPhone because Apple doesn’t want to put itself in the position where it’s dependent on someone else.
Picture this scenario: Let’s say the number one App is a game based on Flash. Some time goes by and Apple releases an iPhone update that the current version of Flash is incompatible with. Most people won’t know or care that it’s actually *Flash* that is the problem. They’ll just know that “My iPhone is broke. I updated it and now <#1 game> doesn’t work anymore.”
Should Apple check in with Adobe before each iPhone OS update and wait for Adobe to upgrade their software before releasing their own? Or do they release it anyway and incur the wrath of people who are pissed that “their phone is broke from the new iPhone software”?
Apple doesn’t want to put itself in this position. By ensuring that all native apps are written using tools that Apple provides, they avoid any “dependency” issues.
Plus, Flash has horrible performance on mobile devices. Android keeps promising that Flash is “coming soon”. An “early 2009″ delivery date has been pushed to “2nd half 2010″.
Ever wonder why?
I’m not saying this out of “Apple fanboyism”. However, I realize that Apple created the iPhone and they really have the right to do as they damn well please with it.
Many people bitch & moan that Apple “should do this” & “they should do that”. If you don’t like what Apple is doing, or if their phone doesn’t have the features you need, no one is forcing you to buy it. Don’t like it? Don’t buy it. It’s that simple.
