[opendtv] Re: Flash support still elusive on iPad
- From: Craig Birkmaier <craig@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 2 Feb 2010 08:31:50 -0500
At 2:26 PM -0600 2/1/10, Manfredi, Albert E wrote:
Among various criticisms of the Apple iPad, one of the loudest is
the continuing spurning of Adobe Flash. The stand-off between Apple
and Adobe on the iPhone is well documented, but with the new tablet
being touted as a video optimized product, the omission of the
standard that underpins YouTube is more glaring.
Wake up Bert. You Tube has moved most of its content to h.264. The
You Tube player app has been a standard feature of the iPhone since
day one. Not defending Apple here, as they are probably the most
vertically integrated company in the computer/CE industry, however,
since Jobs return, they have been strong advocates of standards based
solutions. The iPod and iTunes have been built on AAC and h.264.
Meanwhile both Microsoft and Adobe have continued down proprietary paths...
Apple has argued that the mobile version of Flash is inadequate for
the advanced multimedia usage encouraged by its iPhone, but this
viewpoint has been undermined by the appearance of Flash 10, a
mobile implementation of the fully fledged platform.
No. Apple has argued that Flash is inefficient and too resource
intensive for the iPhone. They have a good point - the Flash plug-in
for Mac based browsers is buggy and VERY processor intensive.
It is not yet clear whether Flash 10 has solved this issue.
Apple offered developers an alternative for the iPhone, and now the
iPad. The SDK provides developers with direct access to the resources
that power these devices. Apparently developers have embraced this
approach with more than 140,000 apps in less than a year. The
feedback about the SDK updated for the iPad and released last week
has also been positive.
Apple has been a major supported of HTML5, which is a standards based
approach to the functionality supported by Flash. Unfortunately, the
article you posted failed to even mention this.
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the iPad introduction, and the
aftermath, is the role that the media and "fan boys" for all camps
have played. Apple said almost nothing in the lead up to the
introduction last week, although there is some evidence that they may
have planted a few leaks with the media. But the hype was
overwhelming - no product or company could live up to the
expectations for "the Jesus Tablet."
Perhaps it is just the current economic environment. Perhaps it is
discontent with the status quo surrounding the computing paradigms
that have dominated for the last few decades. Whatever it was that
created the media firestorm that surrounded it, you cannot ignore the
reality that the masses are looking for something new and better.
Here's a clue...it ain't Flash.
And I seriously doubt that the masses are eagerly anticipating the
next generation of netbooks.
Truth is that the Windows based PC paradigm is running out of steam;
it is growing increasingly difficult for manufacturers to make a
profit on products that have become cheap commodities. The only
growth industry surrounding the platform is tools to protect users
from viruses and crashes, and third party services to help the
clueless keep their systems running.
Kon is dismissive of the simplicity of the iPad. But he, and the rest
of us on this list are NOT the target audience. Apple continues to
pioneer technologies that are making the digital world more
accessible to the masses.
Sunday morning we were in Jupiter Florida with friends, waiting for a
table for breakfast. The other couple live in Rockledge and both work
for companies that serve NASA and the defense industry. Glenn works
at Patrick Air Force base and manages the servers for the Eastern
Range; he is an expert in server virtualization, with both feet in
the PC camp. But they got on the iPod bandwagon early, and drooled
over our iPhones until their Verizon contracts expired.
We spent a fair amount of time talking about the iPad over the
weekend. But nothing we talked about had the impact of what we
watched as we waited for that table. A little girl, probably about 3
or 4 years old was wailing away on an iPhone or iPod Touch; she was
playing a bowling game, and having a ball!
Regards
Craig
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