Bill Amend, the cartoonist of Foxtrot, likes to throw in the occasional nerd humor. He succinctly captures what's going through the heads of millions of iPhone and iPad fans who are wondering why can't Adobe and Apple simply get on the same page, figure out how to get the most common/successful video format on to the future of mobile/handheld computing? Everyone is happy and Adobe and Apple make an extra eleventy bazillion dollars.
Steve Jobs recently explained why the iPhone and iPad don't allow Flash and for the first time, It kind of made sense.
"Adobe's Flash is slow, drains batteries, isn't suitable for touchscreen devices and poses security problems."
I remember when my wife was interviewing with different tech companies in Silicon Valley (even though she's a computer engineer, I'm the nerdy one in the family) and had many firmware conversations regarding battery life and memory. In light of our predictions regarding technology, Apple seems to be taking the right approach of providing the platform for the future without trying to carry all the old familiar technologies along with it. Adobe will have to improve its Flash technology to keep up over the next decade or two, regardless of whether it is on Apple's iPad or one of the top competitors.
P.S. I also love the final throw-away joke about Apple having a sense of humor.
Is there a nerd joke in there somewhere about the popularity of Flash versus the other comic book heroes, also? Or am I wrong about that? Like a double nerd entendre?
ReplyDeleteI think there is a 100% chance that Adobe ends up developing something that Apple is happy with.
I LOVE IT. Awesome comic. Totally disagree with Royce, though. Sorry, dude- but Apple probably isn't going to budge on flash. Jobs make a great point that it's proprietary and that is one thing that is never going to change.
ReplyDeleteThe internet is a huge time suck, but I think that it's also a huge source of information and that that information should be free and accessible. (Yes, I'm straying away from Apple and looking at the bigger picture, because obviously Apple is profit-motivated). I for one am jumping on the HTML5 band wagon. Most of our site is flash based and while I see the upside, I want the flash OUT.
GotGame you don't have to apologize for disagreeing with me - you are free to be as wrong as you want to be ;)
ReplyDeleteIn fact you don't disagree - my point is that Apple isn't going to budge on Flash so eventually if Adobe wants to exist on Apple's products they'll end up doing whatever it is that Apple wants. Even if what Apple wants is for Adobe to drop dead in a ditch.
I'll wait on the HTML5 bandwagon and see what happens
Great post! I loved the eleventy bazillion link, and I don't think the author was going for the double nerd entendre - I think flash and the hulk are on relatively level playing fields. If it were, say, Batman, then perhaps it might work.
ReplyDeleteAaron, absolutely brilliant link use for eleventy bazillion. So proud right now. I award you one loving pat on the head. In the words of Charlie Daniels, that's how you do it son.
ReplyDeleteMicrosoft, in a surprising statement, has announced it agrees (somewhat), with Apple's stance on Adobe Flash.
ReplyDeleteI'm definitely on board with both here: I believe the mobile sphere will drive lower-power consuming technology, and that Adobe will have to update Flash in order to meet this need (especially in international markets).