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Re: Apple CEO’s Stab at Flash to be Topic of the Day at SDK Event

PaulGlazowski — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 04:24:10 -0000

Thomas,

Incite backlash? Hardly. The piece was written in anticipation of the SDK event to be held Thursday (today). The piece was not explicitly a report. It was commentary. My own opinions shine through. If you don't agree with them, that's fine. But don't attempt to pass the original post as as news release. I have not done so. You should not do so either.

As to whether we will see Flash make its way onto the iPhone, it is inevitable. Despite Apple's heavy investment in Web media via its Quicktime platform, Flash is far too big and too influential for Apple to ignore. Particularly as the iPhone acts as more a computer-like smartphone than most any other on the market.

Re: Apple CEO’s Stab at Flash to be Topic of the Day at SDK Event

Wed, 05 Mar 2008 22:29:36 -0000

What Jobs is saying is that the iPhone is a very underpower device. FlashLite is fantastic but it makes little sense unless it can run flash Lite 3 with video and I suspect the processor in the iPhone is not upto the job. This situation will chntchangeh V2 maybee of the iPhone.

Re: Apple CEO’s Stab at Flash to be Topic of the Day at SDK Event

Daniel — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 19:53:28 -0000

I don't think Flash will be released for the iPhone.

- Flash relies heavily on a "mouseover" event which the iPhone doesn't have (it's a touchscreen).
- One of the sexier things about the iPhone is zooming in and out in MobileSafari. A lot of currently deployed Flash sites don't resize very well. (e.g. go to homestarrunner.com and resize your browser window)
- Because the user experience would be pretty bad, I don't think Apple will be cool with it.

Re: Apple CEO’s Stab at Flash to be Topic of the Day at SDK Event

Thomas — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 19:09:19 -0000

It's seems to me that your sole purpose for writing this article is simply to sensationalize the issue.

Examples:

"Jobs mockery of Flash..." Jobs did not mock Flash, he just explained why he felt Flash, in it's two current forms would not work on the iPhone. Flash Lite is inadequate for a full-rendering browser and standard Flash is too bloated (which is okay for it to be on a computer with comparatively huge memory and processing muscle) for this compact device. Where is the mockery?

"the coming backlash" - What coming backlash? the iPhone has an unprecedented satisfaction rating. Most people who use it, love it. Lack of Flash is a minor point.

"...behoove its designers to volley a few insults..."

"... it is the public that will no longer accept..."

"...get ready for another public upset of the kind not seen since the infamous..."

"I even suspect claims of deception..."

"...a situation that appears thick with tension and reserved anger."

Sounds like you are trying to incite a backlash instead of reporting on an existing one.

Re: Apple CEO’s Stab at Flash to be Topic of the Day at SDK Event

Thomas — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 18:45:08 -0000

"This determination comes about despite Mr Jobsâ€™s insistence in 2007 that his companyâ€™s pocket-sized browser can be declared the essential equivalent of its larger and more expandable inspiration."

Jobs never said this.

What he said was that that iPhone's Safari provided a real web browsing experience on a phone as opposed to the compromised scaled-down browsers provided on most other internet enabled handsets.

He was showing that most standard web pages were fully rendered as one would see on a computer. And this was indeed delivered and this was indeed a huge advancement in handset browsing.

So huge, in fact, that the browsing presence on the internet is 50 times greater for the iPhone than all other handset browsing combined. I would not call that misleading.

You continue in your following paragraphs to characterize Job's statements as though he were emphasizing that Safari on the iPhone was identical to Safari on a computer.

Clearly that is not what Job's was communicating. In fact, he was demonstrating many differences between the two Safaris. The iPhone Safari is manipulated by finger gestures: tapping, sliding, expanding, pinching, etc. Selecting from a list produces a spinning barrel selector. Obviously many things are different. No cacheing, no tabs, etc.

Safari on the iPhone is a compromise, but it is hugely less compromised than browsers found on other handsets.

Just because the iPhone does not support a proprietary plug-in for the reasons clearly stated by Jobs, does not mean that anyone has been mislead or is up in arms about it.

Re: Apple CEO’s Stab at Flash to be Topic of the Day at SDK Event

PaulGlazowski — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 18:15:25 -0000

Thomas,

Sorry, should've double reviewed the post. It's corrected. Hope the changes suffice. Thanks for the tip!

Re: Apple CEO’s Stab at Flash to be Topic of the Day at SDK Event

Thomas — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 18:13:08 -0000

"Itâ€™s very noticeable absence on the iPhone and iPod touch is akin to a fast sore thumb - only, well, precisely the opposite."

1) I don't get this statement. "It's" means "it is" or "it has" maybe you meant "Its".

2) What is a "fast sore thumb"? Did you mean a "fat sore thumb"? Either way, what is the "opposite" of a fat or fast sore thumb and how does it relate to the absence of Flash on the iPhone?

I just don't get it.

Re: Apple CEO’s Stab at Flash to be Topic of the Day at SDK Event

Joseph — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 18:12:36 -0000

Yeeey... Flash for the iPhone!!!!

It's About Time Steve!
Can't wait for Flex Applets to get working on the iPhone. I wonder how the touch and drag will work?

Re: Apple CEO’s Stab at Flash to be Topic of the Day at SDK Event

Allan — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 17:57:54 -0000

Personally, I couldn't care less about Flash on my iPhone. Fewer annoying Flash-based sites? Great! Flash is straight-up bad for the web. Developers building sites in Flash should have their heads examined. The only real use for format is for video delivery (an inherently binary medium), and they've already proven that they can work around that issue by using a comparable (arguably superior) codec for that purpose. In fact, I hope they *don't* include Flash support. Can someone tell me how being able to view a Flash-based site on my iPhone is going to enrich my mobile experience? I just can't see it.

Re: Apple CEO’s Stab at Flash to be Topic of the Day at SDK Event

MrVideo — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 17:35:32 -0000

For Jobs to allow Flash into his iPhone would be the death blow for Quicktime as a viable online delivery mechanism.

QT's only holdout other than iPhone is video blogs where QT has dominance due to iTunes.

Jobs is no idiot and iPhone is no "weak sister". He is just stalling as long as he can until... wait, maybe he is...