Adobe targets Apple in ad campaign launched today, publishes open letter from founders
By Joshua Topolsky 
posted May 13th 2010 7:50AM
posted May 13th 2010 7:50AM
So, it's clear this issue isn't going to die out any time soon, and it's also clear that Adobe is going to go to great lengths to defend and protect its cash-cow. Of course, if they really want this message to hit home to the core iPad and iPhone users out there, they're going to need to run that ad in HTML5.We believe that consumers should be able to freely access their favorite content and applications, regardless of what computer they have, what browser they like, or what device suits their needs. 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.
When markets are open, anyone with a great idea has a chance to drive innovation and find new customers. Adobe's business philosophy is based on a premise that, in an open market, the best products will win in the end - and the best way to compete is to create the best technology and innovate faster than your competitors.
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.
In the end, we believe the question is really this: Who controls the World Wide Web? And we believe the answer is: nobody - and everybody, but certainly not a single company.
Note: As you should know, the ad sales and editorial teams at Engadget are separate entities, so this campaign was as much a surprise to us as it probably is to you!
It's all very political. Apple has to be careful about handling this Flash issue. For people who are angry at Apple, well, it is their right to decide what goes on their system. Though I agree with Jobs, he should not have issued that letter. It's just bad PR.
For Adobe, they have no counter against Jobs' technical arguments. The ads seems like a smear PR campaign.
Apple please give the consumers what they want. This is coming from a Windows user typing this on an Android phone.
I wonder if Adobe realizes how hypocritical they're being.
That statement is exactly what Apple is pushing for. Open standards that no one company can control. Adobe wants to force people to use Flash even if they don't want to. (Obviously, they're not winning that battle wrt Apple).
If Adobe really practiced what they preach, they'd have no complaint with Apple. After all, if one company shouldn't control the web, it should be entirely Apple's choice to either support Flash or not - and then customers would decide who wins.
And that, of course, ignores the fact that there is STILL no version of flash that would run on iPhones even if Apple let it.
@fast
I wonder if Adobe realizes how hypocritical they're being.
That statement is exactly what Apple is pushing for. Open standards that no
one company can control. Adobe wants to force people to use Flash even if
they don't want to. (Obviously, they're not winning that battle wrt Apple).
If Adobe really practiced what they preach, they'd have no complaint with
Apple. After all, if one company shouldn't control the web, it should be
entirely Apple's choice to either support Flash or not - and then customers
would decide who wins.
And that, of course, ignores the fact that there is STILL no version of flash
that would run on iPhones even if Apple let it.
This is my 2 cents worth ( have been following this apple vs adobe thing on the net ). Adobe should just hunker down and come up with a kick-ass flash for the other platforms, webOS/Android/Symbian and what not. Flash is a dog and it's not obvious to most on a desktop because it's powered and have the CPU/RAM to handle it. It becomes a little more obvious in laptops when it is not attached to the power outlet. In a smartphone ( and iPad ), the current iteration will really not cut it. We can't throw in more hardware in a phone ( no ram upgrades etc ).
So far Adobe have not released anything for the smartphone ( Flash lite does not count ) to prove conclusively otherwise. All we got are some online videos and this .. release it to the masses and get it into users hands, prove Apple wrong and then blow your horn. Here's hoping that the 10.1 for Andoid is the start ( though I sincerely hope that the WebOS and the other platforms are not ignored either and I am also refering to those Android platforms less than version 2.1 ). Come on Adobe here is your chance to step up to the plate and don't blow it cause your rep is on the line
Poor wibble adobe!
Don't worry Adobe, Flash still works on the Desktop
i will just wait till froyo comes out..
my avatar says the rest. .
@coolkams03
Your avatar says you're a smug Fandroid. Nothing else.
@Jack
i know what you are jack and have seen you around here in engadget for quite some time.. its not good to talk while your lips are on apple's a$$.
@coolkams03
"I know you are but what am I?" That's your response? Wow. And seriously, you are pretty much the last person to talk about having your lips on a company's ass. See your avatar as an example. Were you aware that you're a massive hypocrite, or is this news to you?
@Jack
i just comment wat i feel to the article. i dont reply to others comments calling them smug and fandroid unless they start first.
i said 'i know wat u r' because thats wat u do here .. calling names likes a crybaby ..
@coolkams03
Considering that you don't know how to spell the words "what" and "you" and "are", it's not surprising that the best you can do is insult me, rather than back up whatever point you were trying to make.
I mean feel free to be as much of an idiot as you think you need to be, but don't get all butthurt when somebody points out that you're a dumbass. Because you ARE a dumbass. You don't like that? Well the solution is simple. Stop being a dumbass.
@ Adobe "In the end, we believe the question is really this: Who controls the World Wide Web? And we believe the answer is: nobody - and everybody, but certainly not a single company."
So riddle me this, what is it exactly you are trying to do here if it's not this? Do you think we are stupid or something? Oh you have us on that one, we've been buying you substandard products for too long.
Stop winging and get on with making things better.
Adobe is the kid who shows up to the sandbox and takes all the toys. The rest of the kids are left with nothing to do. Apple kicked them out of their sandbox. ADOBE quit your whining and go play in another sandbox.....by the way bring something good to play with and you'll be welcomed with open arms.
Apple responds to Adobe's ‘We ♥ Apple’ advertisement
http://img291.yfrog.com/img291/8745/n4f.png
This is the truth of the situation right here:
http://log.valhallaisland.com/post/596483252
"Adobe®: We Love Choice
The $600 Flash authoring tool is the only way to produce Flash applications.
The free Mac OS X Developer tools (that require an $800+ Mac computer) are the only way to produce iPhone and iPad applications.
Both systems are as closed as each other.
Adobe claims Flash is open.
Apple makes no such claims. If you want to make iPhone or iPad apps you use Mac OS and Xcode, take it or leave it.
If you choose to leave it the alternative is HTML. A truly open platform for which authoring is as simple as editing text. There’s many HTML rendering engine implementations, the best few are totally open source with Apple being the major contributor to the best one, WebKit.
Adobe: not open, claim to be.
Apple: not open, don’t claim to be, contribute heavily to that which is truly open."
Adobe's position on this issue is fail.
@Jack
there are many free tools available to create flash applications.. adobe flash professional is only one of those. .
guess u r back with ur lips on apple's a$$ again . .
@coolkams03
Way to miss the point, Fandroid. Adobe says they're "open" while selling the Flash dev kit for $600. How is that "open"?
Second, it's hilarious that you think I wrote that article. If your head wasn't so far up your ass, you might have recognized that what I posted was a quote from the article that I linked to.
Well, nobody said Fandroids were smart, right?
@Jack
an article written on the net doesnt mean he is telling the truth.. and trying to justify urself by considering some random article as facts only shows you are a ass kissing apphole.
@coolkams03
More hypocritical insults? What are you, if not an Android ass kisser? No, see the problem is that you're calling me an Apple ass kisser for posting an article I didn't write. That's stupid. If you have a problem with the article, take it up with the guy who wrote it.
Or is that too difficult for you to comprehend? Should I use smaller words? Oh and of course you would naturally disagree with the article because it's not siding with Adobe. But that's because you're an Apple hater, so your opinion doesn't count.
I'm on Adobe's side, even though I like HTML5 quite a bit (as a developer). Although Apple doesn't have to include Flash, it's just stupid for them to boycott it just because it won't be efficient. Have you ever tried running a reasonably advanced HTML5 app on an iPhone? It lags horribly.
Flash is used everywhere; Apple should give compatibility a shot.
@nkorth
That's why flash runs on Macs, because Apple is "giving compatibility a shot", as you put it. But since flash runs so incredibly poorly on mobile devices, not to mention the inherent security risks and the fact that the vast majority of flash on the web is advertising (not content), the decision to keep it off the iPhone is not as pointless as a lot of people seem to think it is.
You have more than one option to get content onto an iPhone. You can write an app for it, or you can just do a web site. Using HTML5 or not, doesn't matter.
@Jack I don't think Apple is doing any favor on adobe and "giving compatibility a shot" by letting run flash on Macs.. It practically has no choice but to let it run. You can't expect to sell a PC/Laptop and tell the users they can access half the sites on internet. They r not in a strong position with Macs. With the iPhone... however, they r able to call the shots. Let the iphone sales go down and i m pretty sure they will be "giving compatibility a shot" on their mobile devices tooo.. its just about who has the clout to call the shots in both situations.
@Jack
Maybe you didn't notice that I wasn't talking about Macs. However, if Apple is going to portray the iPad as a computer, shouldn't it run Flash? Or is it still 'mobile device' enough to be incapable of running it smoothly?
I'm just saying that if they're going to implement HTML5 despite it not running very well, why not give Flash a shot too?
Guys, this is just one of those apple things. When apple killed the floppy drive on macs, people freaked out. Then they realized they could carry on without floppies, and more people started making stuff on disk, etc. The world moved on.
HTML5 is just growing pains. While some of movie content I want to watch is in flash (hulu, etc), when you really sit down and think about it, flash is not essential to your everyday web experience. Flash games? Pfft, play your games on your DS or iPhone (how many different ways do we need to play games?) Moving interactive content on the web? 99% of that stuff is (A) Ads or (B) Overhyped movie websites or other crap that is doesn't really benefit you (all dazzle, no content.) In fact, I don't think there been any website that uses flash exclusively that I (A) Visit often or (B) Thought was a good experience. Most of the time I'm just trying to figure out how to turn the damn movie off.
As much as sometimes I miss flash on my iPod, I'm going to say kudos for apple in taking a stand on this. The world needs to move on from flash. It's going to be a bit of a pain until something like HTML5 can replace it entirely, but I welcome the change... nothing this important (like the future) of the web should be trusted to any one company.
@enjourni So.... u mean to say... that... people should change their web browsing habits(no matter how minor the change is) cuz apple doesn't like adobe (for watever reason). Shouldn't devices b made to adapt to the consumers habits and not the other way round. I mean.. if i feel flash is buggy or slow.... let me decide if i 'dont' want to run it.. cuz.. u know.. i paid for the freaking device. and if consumers do feel html5 is better than flash, i guess html5 will eventually become the future of internet.. as they predict.. but give the users the option to decide. and if u think clearly... apple is not boycotting flash to do some good to the society and rid them of endless pain... they r doing it for their own profit.. which in a business/shareholder world makes sense.. just doesn't make sense from a consumer standpoint.
i know apple's answer wud be 'take it or leave it', but i guess in the long term... they will end up with a lot of leavers than takers.
N900, full flash, mobile device.
Im with Apple on this one! HTML 5 is the future of the web! Why can't Adobe get things up to WC3 standards, or have their program output its code into HTML5? Flash plugins suck because if your Website requires the latest and greatest plugin and your customers dont have it installed, they cannot view its contents (Aleast the ones using flash). With HTML5 its a standard that all web browsers would (eventually) support! No stupid plugins required!
Pathetic!!!
if I was Adobe, I'll stop distribute CS5 for MACs...
apple is a closed platform, and it will stay that way... apple is the owner of all iPhones (less the jailbroken ones) and the users just paid for it...
i'll never get iPhone, iTouch, iPad; because I don't wanna be at Steve Jobs orders...
apple rules in AMERICA only... it is a trend, and if jobs makes a poo-poo, everyoune jumps to buy it...
Instead of Adobe's weepy ad campaign, they could do a bunch of apps on an iPad using Flash.
If this works, then they prove Mr. Jobs wrong.
Adobe's failure to "put up or shut up" just continues to validate Mr. Jobs' disparaging comments about Flash
Yeah, this argument is ridiculous. I don't see anyone bashing Apple because they don't support SilverLight or RealPlayer.
Well, iLove Apple.