Adobe: Flash 10.1 Will Silence Apple’s Criticism, Tablets Have More Appeal Than Netbooks

March 15th, 2010 by Avram Piltch, LAPTOP Online Editorial Director  

While Apple is reportedly badmouthing Flash all over town for being buggy and crash-prone, Adobe is championing its upcoming mobile player as a way to supercharge the very smart phones and tablets competing against the iPad and iPhone. It’s almost as if Adobe were saying “Want to beat Apple? Here’s your secret weapon.”

It’s not that Adobe is giving up hope that Steve Jobs will change his mind about HTML5 being the best solution for the future. But according to Anup Muraka, director of technology strategy and partner development for Flash, Apple’s aversion is based just as much on its desire for premium content to move through iTunes than any perceived technical issues. And according to him, the impending arrival of Flash 10.1 for Android, webOS, and other platforms will invalidate Apple’s and others’ criticisms. But when is this player actually coming, why will only certain Android phones support it, and what difference will it really make?

Here are the quick highlights of our in-depth interview:

  • Adobe doesn’t hate HTML5, but it thinks it will take years to fully develop, and it strongly believes that Flash will evolve along with web standards.
  • Tablets (especially those with Flash) will appeal more to consumers than netbooks have.
  • Flash Player 10.1 promises to put an end to empty frames on web pages when using smart phones, delivering “the full web” instead just “walled gardens.”
  • Although Adobe’s PR spokesperson stressed that Flash Player 10.1 for mobile devices was still on schedule for the first half of this year, Muraka told us that “device releases will naturally lag the desktop releases by days or weeks–in a few cases maybe even months.”

Many people see HTML5 as a potential Flash replacement. What do you see as the benefits of this competing technology?

For HTML5 we’re excited because there are a lot of interesting capabilities in HTML5. A big chunk of Adobe’s growth has come from the Web and from HTML, and our technologies, Flash in particular, embrace, interoperate, and integrate with HTML. And just as HTML evolves, we’ve seen Flash and other specifications evolve over time as well.

You’re going to continue to see features that are innovative in Flash or PHP or Java or Silverlight or any other web-run time move into various standards. Those technologies that can continue to innovate, continue to move forward, continue to be valuable. So I think the HTML5 spec is a great evolution. It’s going to take years for the standardization process to complete and get ubiquitous adoption, and developers are going to be able to need to build and ship content now, and next month, and next year. It’s our obligation to continue innovating in our own technologies and continue to add value and offer capabilities that developers can’t otherwise get within the open standards.

What do you think Google is experimenting with both HTML5 videos on YouTube and Flash on Android? Are you getting mixed signals there?

It’s a great example of exactly that situation where there’s going to be experimentation, there’s going to be selection of what content they can distribute. But at the end of the day companies, not just Google but other content producers need to care about what kind of distribution can I get, and how do I ensure the protection of the quality of the experience that I’m delivering. So if the technology community can’t agree on things like codecs that to go into the HTML5 standard, that’s going to hurt the distribution of the technology, it’s going to make it harder for developers to choose one over another.

A big part of the reason why Flash became so popular was the fact that it worked inside the webpage and it was a seamless experience that would work on Mac, Windows and Linux. Now if we have different browsers from different companies and we also put in different codecs, we haven’t necessarily improved things for that broad base of content. Yes, you’re going to get some producers that will embrace one platform from one approach, but they’re going to have to decide how to get their content onto another device, another screen, or another browser, which will potentially operate differently.

Do you believe Apple’s opposition to Flash on mobile devices is based on legitimate concerns over the technology or do you think it’s more of a business decision?

I’m sure there are considerations on both sides, both on the technical and the business side. We believe we’re going to be able to provide concrete proof that there aren’t technical issues, and that will come in the form of shipping 10.1 on a lot of devices. It will come in the form of shipping on multiple other smart phone platforms that many people would describe as being less capable or less powerful than some of Apple’s products. The business considerations will be the only remaining barrier, and those are things not in Adobe’s control.

Do you feel that Apple is afraid of free content?

I think certainly it’s a consideration to have content moving to the iTunes store, and the App Store, as the preferred distribution mechanism for that platform, but I think Apple has shown a lot of willingness to do what their customers want. I think they’ll have to look at those platforms where we are getting that support and that cooperation. With Android we’re seeing great progress.

What do you think your chances are of getting Flash Player on the iPad and iPhone?

I think we’re going to continue to build on what we have today, which is we can operate Flash and compile for the Apple platform. I wouldn’t want to speculate yet as to when we reach the point that the integration is complete and it shows up in Safari and those devices as well.

What’s your take on tablet phenomenon in general? Is that type of device really solving a consumer need or is it a fad?

I think that the industry as a whole doesn’t want to admit a dynamic change is taking place once more, that we saw happen with smart phones. Two to three years ago no one would have predicted the capabilities of smart phones today. We’re seeing plans for multigigahertz, multicore smartphones within the next one to two years. I think the current range of excitement is not just about Apple’s tablet but about the form factor that will appeal to consumers more than netbooks seem to have, and can be designed in a form factor that can be compelling enough that we can create that category.

So we are seeing a tremendous amount of interest in the technology that will fill that category. One of our partners has said that they have over fifty OEMS in the pipeline to ship devices within 12 to 18 months in that form factor. I’ve seen devices in that category that I’m intrigued by.

You’re working with HP on the Slate. Do you think it will be a hit?

It is a capable device. The hardware specs are there, the hardware capabilities in terms of acceleration are there. In many, many cases you’re seeing a CPU coupled with another chip that handles the graphics, such as the Broadcom Crystal HD part or another GPU from ATI or Nvidia. But I don’t think (the Slate) is alone. It takes time for the application and the design community to learn about these new interaction models. But if you look at these ultra portable light devices, if they truly are flexible and capable enough they can be incredibly successful.


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15 Responses to “Adobe: Flash 10.1 Will Silence Apple’s Criticism, Tablets Have More Appeal Than Netbooks”

  1. Brad Says:
    March 15th, 2010 at 7:32 pm

    I don’t want flash on my iphone. We need to keep the web pure without plugins!!

  2. Joe Says:
    March 15th, 2010 at 8:01 pm

    What’s with the Adobe ad?

    Everyone knows that Flash is bug prone, a security risk and eats CPU cycles like candy. I’ve checked it on several Windows boxes as well as Macs and it’s using well over 50% CPU power – even when it’s not doing anything.

    If Adobe can fix it, fine. I’m sure Apple would consider using it if it didn’t drain batteries in minutes. But you have to ask – if Adobe can fix it, why did it take Apple’s visible actions to force them to?

    More likely, it will only be marginally better (the betas I’ve seen are still greatly limited and slow on smart phones) and you’re just feeding Adobe vaporware.

  3. James Katt Says:
    March 15th, 2010 at 9:51 pm

    I prefer a web which only uses open, official standards. Flash is NOT an open NOR an official standard. It is a CLOSED platform that only Adobe controls, which Adobe is always changing, which introduces tons of bugs, crashes and breaks security in a computer which the computer manufacturer or operating systems manufacturer cannot fix.

    Adobe is being very bitchy when complaining about Apple and its “closed garden”. Flash itself IS A CLOSED GARDEN.

    The ONLY way that Apple will every allow Flash on the iPhone, iPod, or iPad is for Adobe to submit Flash as an open standard and to give up its IP in Flash. Simple.

    But then, Adobe will NEVER do this. They, like everyone else, is thinking about the bucks it can make by keeping Flash proprietary and NOT an open standard.

    Flash is a parasite platform on other systems. It causes crashes on the host system. It causes massive security problems for the host system.

    Flash causes almost ALL THE CRASHES on Mac OS X. That alone is why I prefer to BLOCK FLASH with ClickToFlash then use it only if direly needed.

    It is SO MUCH MORE PLEASANT TO BE FREE OF FLASH.

    Flash is dead like the Floppy Disk.

    Less than 10% of iPhone users even tried to contact Adobe about Flash on the iPhone. The vast 90+% could give a damn about Flash. They are happier without Flash and all the crashes and headaches it causes.

  4. kawaiigardiner Says:
    March 15th, 2010 at 9:51 pm

    Like so many Adobe representatives in the past, he refuses to acknowledge just how horrible, bloated, slow, inefficient, crash prone, bloated, battery hogging piece of crap Flash actually is. Once again Adobe blames everyone else for their incompetency than actually doing something about the 2 tonne elephant sitting in the corner of the room.

  5. Brett Says:
    March 16th, 2010 at 2:04 am

    If Apple was “afraid of free content” they wouldn’t currently allow free apps in the app store…but they do. Likewise they wouldn’t encourage development of web apps for the iPhone… but they do.

    Apple’s boycott of Flash is all about maintaining quality pure and simple. Flash is a slow, power hungry, crash-prone vector for malware that is beyond Apple’s control to fix. Apple is wise not to surrender a portion of the iPad user experience to Adobe — or any third party for that matter. Controlling the whole widget is the only way to preserve Apple’s stellar reputation for products that just work.

  6. JonGl Says:
    March 16th, 2010 at 4:54 am

    Here’s a question that needs to be asked Adobe. Do they really think that the whole world of the web needs to be dependent on them for all their content delivery? And a question for everybody else… Do you really want to dependent on one company for your web content? Flash is not really free. Right now, it’s just given away, but that is dependent on a so-called benevolent dictator, called Adobe. I cannot understand the willingness of people to turn everything over to them, especially when those same people are crying out against Apple for the same thing.

  7. Dave Says:
    March 16th, 2010 at 7:36 am

    Ever since John Warnock left Adobe the company has been going down hill. SC4 is a total waste of money, nothing new there. Adobe blames the lack of CS4 sales on the economy, thats not it. Adobe really screwed up buying Macromedia just to get flash. Flash is dead! HTML 5 and H.264 is here today and taking over.

  8. Kevin Martin Says:
    March 16th, 2010 at 12:49 pm

    Brad, Joe, James Katt, kawaiigardiner :I’m sure, you have installed Adobe flash in your pc, sure you love youtube, hulu and free internet , because adobe flash advertising. So! right now or tomorrow, please DELETE your FLASH PLAYER on your PC. Then… i will believe in your comments. Have a nice Navigation..without Flash!!

  9. John Says:
    March 16th, 2010 at 4:39 pm

    Yeah it is so nice when some company just makes all your decisions for you and you don’t have any options to choose from. Man it will suck that Android users will have to choose whether or not they want to add flash support to their phones. Luckily Apple is keeping all their iphone and ipad users safe from evil old flash which isn’t useful for any web content. I wouldn’t want the option to download a free flash game online when I can just pay for a similar game in the app store. All those choices of where to get games and apps would be too confusing not to mention the problems of being able to watch video on sites like Hulu. Keep us safe Steve Jobs!

  10. Porter Says:
    March 16th, 2010 at 9:21 pm

    I completely agree with Adobe when it comes to HTML5. HMTL 5 will likely be great, but as HTML advances, so will Flash Player and other technologies; it’s kind of silly to think that HTML5 will completely replace flash any time soon, if at all.

  11. josh Says:
    March 19th, 2010 at 9:55 am

    Apples exclusion of flash has nothing to do with it being “buggy”. The mac is designed to be a pro with graphics. Why would it have such a hard time with flash?
    This is more about control. Apple wants all sold apps to go through their store without the possibility of apps being sold in other markets. I don’t blame them.

  12. amused Says:
    March 22nd, 2010 at 12:52 am

    Man, those Mactards came out in full force to defend Stevie! I can’t wait to have flash on my phone so I can experience the full web….or maybe I’ll choose to disable the flash plugin. I love choices, why do the Mac using hippies always want Steve (and Obama) to make decisions for them? The iPhone is still a good music player, though. ;)

  13. Bob Todd Says:
    June 7th, 2010 at 2:35 pm

    What’s with the first couple posts? And what’s with all caps guy? Sounds angry.

    I know Flash very well and your anti-flash sentiment is unfounded. I would bet money that ajax, javascript, php etc. causes many more crashes in browsers than flash does. And the few times I’ve seen flash cause a browser crash, it’s ften when it’s invoking javascript or php to do a server side function or browser window function.

    Secondly, I have an iPod touch, I’ve downloaded apps, and I have had several apps freeze my ipod touch. I have also had the safarai web browser freeze several times. I’ve had to reinstall the ipod OS twice.

    The idea that it’s more stable than flash is absolutely preposterous.

    You guys complain the flash isn’t “open source.” Yet you don’t complain that Apple’s app store and itune store is not “open” This flash debacle is because Apple is so analy controlling over the content and how you pay for it. And who you pay for it.

    Go in to an apple store and try and purchase an iphone or ipod touch with cash. Not gonna happen, they want your credit card so they can link it to your itunes store and suck you in. All they want is your money. They don’t want to give you a choice at all.

    And is Flash really a battery hog. Absolutely not if it’s a well programmed APP. If you get an amateur who’s running onEvent checks every millisecond sure, but that type of programming is not what the pros do at all and on it’s way out.

    And you know, even if you think Flash is a battery hog and I can’t change your mind. No problem, don’t use flash. Just don’t tell me I and hundreds of millions of others can’t use flash because your had a bad experience one time. I want what I want, I don’t want what a selfish CEO tells me what I should want.

    I’m absolutely DONE with apple unless they let Jobs go and completely change course. I will never buy an ipod, iphone, ipad or apple product again. They are really insulting and hurting a huge base of their core users with this personally motivated policy.

    Goodbye Apple.

  14. fdp Says:
    June 11th, 2010 at 8:41 pm

    Flash 10.1 has completely hosed the web for me. Most video content will not display, including tutorials on Adobe’s web site. I’ve had serial plugin failures and today after three of them in a row my CPU crashed: the first time my Mac has been taken down entirely in a very long time.

    So, no, I don’t think version 10.1 is going to silence Apple. It’s going to make lots of Mac user’s how. Especially after they try to navigate Adobe’s byzantine and ultimately useless customer support pages.

    fdp

  15. Trent Says:
    July 9th, 2010 at 6:19 am

    I recently upgraded to 10.1, yeah it silenced their criticism all right. No more is needed. Now instead of opinion, Apple has facts to back themselves up with. 10.1 outright SUCKS.

    It is super bloated, and dear god it causes my system to hang for serious periods of time! I am seriously considering removing it soon.

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