Adobe on Flash and the iPad: 'Apple is continuing to impose restrictions on their devices'
posted January 28th 2010 3:34PM
It looks like Apple is continuing to impose restrictions on their devices that limit both content publishers and consumers. Unlike many other ebook readers using the ePub file format, consumers will not be able to access ePub content with Apple's DRM technology on devices made by other manufacturers. And without Flash support, iPad users will not be able to access the full range of web content, including over 70% of games and 75% of video on the web.
If I want to use the iPad to connect to Disney, Hulu, Miniclip, Farmville, ESPN, Kongregate, or JibJab -- not to mention the millions of other sites on the web -- I'll be out of luck.
Yep, that sounds about right -- and Adobe goes on to point out that the Open Screen Project is bringing Flash to all sorts of other devices. Considering the Nokia N900 runs Flash 9 extremely well on a 600MHz ARM Cortex A8-based TI OMAP 3 processor (and the Palm Pre, which uses the same chip, will be able to run Flash 10.1 when webOS 1.4 comes out) we don't see any reason other than politics that the iPad can't do it on that fancy new 1GHz dual-core Cortex A9-based A4 chip. Turns out people might think "the best way to experience the web" might involve a little Hulu, you know?
I like my Touch but not for the web ... and yes, I have games that I bought from the app store .. but I will not give up my social networking games (free), nor Hulu ... so I guess, it is time to look at netbooks.
If Adobe really wants Flash on the iPhone so much... why not release it for jailbroken phones? I know that it is not a standard, but I think it would be worth it.
@sinani201, because not even on jailbroken phones you get access to the Mobile Safari API... Adobe cannot do that without Apple's consent and support. That's what you get when running on a closed, tightly controlled platform.
These things make me say that the gigantic iPhone sucks
"impose restrictions"
And that is why I will never own another Apple product for the foreseeable future. I think different. I do my own thing. I don't need Apple telling me what I can and can't do on MY. Repeat MY device. The lemmings out there can buy their iPad. The rest of us who want to do things differently (Say load an app that isn't on the Apple store?) will go with HP or any of a number of other tablets that will be on the market this year.
as always...fuck Apple. They are a cancer on the computer/tech industry. Yes they have pushed things forward. But they also have stifled real innovation for the sake of thin, and Jobs should be smacked upside the head for that.
@John Doe
Agreed.
Just a matter of time before the anti-trust law suit. Apple must have something like 80%-90% of the online music market locked up via iTunes/iPods/iPhones already. They are acting like Microsoft were in the 80s, just before they got taken down a peg or three.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Competition_law#United_States_antitrust
They can't call it a complete internet experience without Flash.
Simple as that.
@reticulate
Exactly my thoughts, I think a user should be able to view any content on the Internet without restrictions. Theres a diffrence between a limitation and a restriction.
This is my SINGLE greatest problem with the iPad. Hell, add that and I would get one. And you know what? I would STILL buy apps out of convenience. I think my biggest problem though is with having to wait hours and hours to get new videos from Youtube. It's crap. Oh yeah and did they fix that crippled Youtube app for the iPad?
I think if Google really wanted to "do no evil" they would say "suck it apple." And not let them get video from them. It would hurtus for a bit, but then change would happen.
@Dshark
Funny you should mention that, I would like to think that apple is privileged by having youtube service. Considering that googles gains income from ad's some of which use flash seeing this released with no flash i can see google feeling alittle backstabbed.
I've been using the iPhone since 2007 and have never missed Flash capabilities on it. If I wanted to watch videos besides Youtube, I always used my MacBook. I'm sure, that this new device "made by apple" will be a great
sucess without some "special" features.
I think its great apple is pushing html5 standards can't wait till it blows up in there face when they realize people can encode there tv shows and moves online in more than just flash using HTML5 video and there sales drop like a rock cause its easiest to view on the iphone
I'm all for abolishing Flash. The OS X build of Flash really sucks. The Linux build might even be better. I know exactly how to fix this problem:
I'm going to disable Flash on my MacBook because that's what Steve would want me to do.
@Brian Pattison
LOL, computer says no....
Wah wah wah. Bunch of whiny little tits. The iPad will do extremely well, you will continue to hate. Thus, the cycle starts anew.
I don't know if I'll get one right away. I might just wait to see it in the refurb store. If you knock off $150, it looks really sweet.
I really want to see the iPad succeed in a huge way. I think HTML5 could become the standard for ALL devices, mobile or otherwise, if the iPad leads the way. Web developers will rejoice!
Support the campaign to get flash on the iPhone & iPad with one of these funky t-shirts (there are also mugs and other stuff after the link!)
http://www.365tshirtdesigns.com/2010/01/t-shirt-76-iwant-flash.html
It's not like HTML5 has become accessible enough yet for use normal people to code 'flash-like' elements!
I was find some ways to play flash player on iPod and iPhone but it was so difficult at
http://www.mob2all.com
or
http://www.3g-mob.com
I was find some ways to play flash at iPhone and iPod at http://www.3g-mob.com
or
http://www.mob2all.com
@alexterryuk
Those shirts would be a hell of a lot better if they read "Flash Me".
Not that I care to see iTits, but hey, it is worth a try.
Everyone knows Flash is unstable and that's why Apple is trying to kill off Flash slowly. It's got nothing to do with competing with the App Store, which contains thousands of free apps. There's a built-in YouTube app so it's got nothing to do with not wanting consumers to watch free video. It's simply that Flash causes browsers to crash and hogs CPU. Steve Jobs clearly wants Flash to die a horrible death and as CEOs as that websites be iPhone/iPad friendly, he will probably succeed.
@reader1
'If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face—forever'
And your comparison of utterly differently purposed things is just.... wow.
I like to own physical media (CDs and DVDs). The way I choose what to buy is from hearing songs on the radio, or seeing videos online. The fact that samples are free out there doesn't make me buy less, it helps me make better choices.
If Adobe is so concerned maybe they should open source the Flash runtime.
@ralphthemagician
....or perhaps Apple should open source the iPhone O/S / OSX, which would allow better development for their platforms?
It's Adobe that has a stranglehold on the web not Apple. In a world without flash who, exactly would not have access to content? 0% of web content is tied to any Apple product.
@scstsut
Adobe didnt intend to be the evil mad scientist and take over the web, Flash was one of those successful platforms that just took off.
Hell has anyone seen an advertising campaign form adobe on tv saying use our products otherwise the web is gonna suck.
"consumers will not be able to access ePub content with Apple's DRM technology on devices made by other manufacturers."
What the hell is Abode talking about here? Apple has said precisely *zero* about DRM'ing this - mind you - free and open e-book standard.
C'mon Engadget, crank up the journalism a bit here.
What Apple does is simple: create a product with a target date in the future and not of today or yesterday. A product without flash as of today has a limitation, in a short time nobody (apart from Adobe) will even remember. Parallel ports, 3 1/2 disks, NuBus, WordStar, CP/M all have gone. And every time people people cry instead of saying fare well and rest in peace.
I think that apple needs to quit this nonsense and get Flash Java and Silverlight in all there devices because that is why i don't have an iPhone and will not buy an iPad. It sucks because my sight is in silverlight and i can't even look at it. Verizon and Palm are looking pretty good. Oh and the iPhone OS cant multitask :( .
My netbook, hp mini 1000, with windows 7 and 2 gigs of ram runs hulu HD flawlessly.
When I installed OSX on it, it ran regular mode, and even youtube, choppy. I think apple doesn't know how to code correctly for flash.
@stabbytheicepic
Apple seems to think you need a lot more hardware then you really need to run flash well. Really seems like they just need to optimize their software better. Think of the crap box desktops we used to run flash with when youtube first came out. Weaker then my nexus one, or the ipad.
I won't buy this pad until flash is supported, its bad enough my iphone has no flash support.
just buy the HP tablet pc, or get a HTC HD2 with the same money, the itampon is not worth it, the sequel to it might be though...
The Joojoo internet tablet you guys did a hand-on review does do flash. That was almost 2 months ago. You guys even said it was an "oversized iPhone", though the home screen could use some art direction.
Good riddance to Flash, I say. It's slow to load, it's clunky. 90% of flash are annoying-as-fudge advertisements. Websites that use it are cheesy. Flash is so 1998.
@Tironius
LOL please tell me your not serious, Ad's are how most sites are funded and takeing flash out of the picture it wont change how Ad's get to you. Hey it could be worse aside from animated Gifs and jpegs we could all be loading up heavy java 3d applets for advertising.
@Tironius
So is an O/S without multitasking, oh wait.....
The lack of Flash isn't a bad thing. The irony is that aside from Hulu (whom I promise you, is working on an HTML5 version just like YouTube has already launched which requires no Flash plugin whatsoever - check it out - it's great) the primary type of content that is blocked by not supporting Flash is ads. Big deal.
I use "ClickToFlash" and the internet has sincerely never been more hospitable.
Adobe is not a victim here - and neither are any of us. Speaking as a developer, Adobe had a good run with Flash. But like lead pipes, it's falling behind us now. No one should be planning a new Flash site today. The new tools are more stable and robust. Soon the Flash sites will wane and be upgraded with more universal and versatile methods.
Apple has always been slightly ahead of the other computer makers - the first to create a computer without a floppy drive, for example. Unthinkable!
And yet, they were right - and the rest of us soon recognized that we'd simply been complacent.
Well, we're complacent about Flash at the moment, despite its obvious weaknesses. But change is inevitable - change has been a constant online since the dawn of the commercial internet, and so we too will move forward shortly.
@holodeck
Are you actually on a holodeck? Stay off the drugs mate, let us know when reality kicks in.
But:
How do I make Flash websites? Only with Adobe Software.
How do I make Flash games? Only with Adobe Software.
It's all about the money.
...and so the two groups continued arguing until the end of time.
if you want to know why Flash doesn't run on the iPhone, the iPod touch, or the iPad, why Flash will never run on those devices, and why that's a really good thing, check out the following link : http://daringfireball.net/2010/01/apple_adobe_flash
I can see why people complain about the lack of Flash support but it really isn't necessary and with more devices that don't support it the entire thing will soon disappear (well, in a couple of years). Adobe really brought this on themselves by mucking the Mac platform around. Ultimately, the web will be a better place without Flash and it appears absolutely certain now that it will go, in much the same way as Internet Explorer-only websites have mostly gone since the advent of Firefox.
Obviously, if the lack of Flash is going to be a real problem for you then don't buy an iPhone/iPad. However, I can safely say that the lack of Flash has not been a problem for me so far and there's a lot of sites moving their content away from Flash. Your own mileage may vary...
BOYCOTT!
I propose a boycott of the iPad until Apple allows Flash onto it and enables multitasking, which it seems to me are the most common & reasonable complaints that folks have been having about it. There lots of other changes that I'd like to see, but these could be done immediately and would sway me back to buying the machine.
If you agree, please help spread the word.
I've installed Click2flash, am in complete awe at how faster websites load and how much less delays i get. this program is genius!!! It basically blocks all flash content, replacing it with a "flash" logo which you can click on to run the specific flash window. BRILLIANT!