∞ Why haven't more people joined Adobe's Flash fight? Because consumers don't care

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Adobe has some of the best apps on the market today, but when it comes to getting Flash on a consumer device like the iPhone, the company’s cries for solidarity seem to be falling on deaf ears.

While the battle between the two could easily become — if it hasn’t already — who likes one company more than the other, I don’t think the average consumer really cares one way or the other.

What a consumer really cares about is whether the device works. When I turn it on, does it continually crash, or am I able to get things done. It doesn’t matter if you’re using it for work or pleasure, if it doesn’t work when you want it, that’s when you notice technology.

I’m not saying that Flash won’t work on the iPhone. To be honest, nobody really knows because we haven’t seen it in action.

However, what I expect from Apple is an iPhone or iPad that I can keep on for days, check my email, surf the Web, download apps to give me additional functionality, get directions, make appointments, listen to music, watch videos — basically everything.

And I want to do it all without having any problems.

If there is a problem with the iPhone, people are going to blame Apple, regardless of the reason. All people know is that the device they are holding in their hands doesn’t work when they want to do something.

I encountered a perfect example of this at the NAMM music show in January. AT&T’s network failed to hold up under the pressure of attendees, but all I heard from people was their iPhone wouldn’t work. The iPhone worked fine, it was the network that was down.

Adobe has a great suite of apps that lets you write your content once, and then publish to multiple platforms. However, that’s not Apple’s problem if they don’t want to adopt the technology.

Should Apple be forced to support a technology that it feels will harm its user experience? Where would that end?

The iPhone isn’t perfect and the App Store needs some work — there is no doubt about that. But so far, between its built-in functionality and third-party apps, there seems to be very little you can’t do on the iPhone and iPad.

What Adobe needs to do is make Flash a must-have technology on mobile devices. If Apple’s sales drop because its devices don’t have Flash, maybe they’ll have a change of heart and embrace it.


  • http://twitter.com/PBCliberal @PBCliberal

    I don't know what constitutes joining a "flash fight." Our company's AT&T commitment is coming up, and when I got the phone call from them that was a thinly veiled attempt to get us to buy more equipment to extend our commitment, we refused and told them why.

    It's very possible that AT&T doesn't sell or even support the kind of alternative we're seeking to our fleet of iPhones, so the rolldown may not only be leaving the Apple platform but the AT&T one as well. Other than AT&T, until this post and a couple of snarky comments on Twitter, we've told no one, because we're convinced Apple doesn't care and the best way to express our outrage over Apple's belief that the products we purchase are still their property is to vote with our dollars.

  • Grapho

    Actually I think what Adobe must do at this point is one of two things. Ether open Flash to 3rd party developers so that it can be considered an open standard or embrace HTML5 and JavaScript by producing content creation tools that will be the standard of the industry. Like on DTP and to a lesser extent, Web and Video. So far I don't think there is anything out in the market to facilitate the average designer with few coding skills a way to produce content easily using HTML5 and JavaScript with out learning coding. This is were I think an opportunity has opened, and if Adobe is not going to take advantage of it, I am sure there competition will.

  • http://www.mactheforum.com MJCP

    If Adobe wants to make Flash really compelling on mobile devices it needs to stop people using mouseovers. There is, simply, no logical equivalent to a mouseover in a touch interface and it's very hard to see how there ever could be. Flash is "fully" supported on the HTC Desire, but go to a Flash site that uses mouseovers and you're screwed. That's not HTC's fault, not Android's fault and not even Apple's fault — it's inherent to Flash. So the state of play right now is that the "best" experience of Flash on a mobile device is sub-par. It doesn't work.

    Can Adobe turn back the tide of mouseovers? I doubt it. Best thing to do is burn it down and start again — I know, how about HTML5?

    • AMUSED_primate

      Sorry that argument has serious flaws, see:http://www.adobe.com/choice/flash.html and I quote “The Adobe Flash Player runtime was actually originally created as a technology for tablets with touch interfaces, and today, it has support for working on touch-based devices….. For new content developed specifically with touch in mind, Flash Player 10.1 will provide a complete set of multitouch and gesture APIs.” Please do your homework first before parroting so Adobe Hater or Apple Fanboy.

  • Lucas

    the thing for Adobe to do is to just admit defeat and stop messing with Apple over this issue. Apple doesn't have to have flash on the iphone OS. they don't want it. fine. Adobe should say 'we have better things to do with our time. like making a fully featured,fully working, version of Flash for those people that want it."

    • http://intensedebate.com/people/zwei zwei

      Them mentioning Apple over and over isn't about changing Apple's mind, it's a tactical move to try and turn as many consumers as they can against the iPhone/iPad. They realize Apple isn't going to budge on this issue unless people start avoiding their products. It's about all they really can do at this point …other than, you know, making the product a "must have". (as stated above)

  • Steve W

    The one point that Adobe can't refute is that the iPhone was announced over three years ago, and Adobe is three years late with an acceptable mobile Flash.

  • currymac

    What those of us fail to consider is that for the majority of consumers, Adobe is a relative unknown. With the exception of Photoshop Elements, they make only professional-level applications and development tools. This is nothing the average consumer knows or cares about. The average consumer isn't about to drop the serious dough required to buy an Adobe product… even Photoshop. The average consumer just wants their user experience to be crisp. clean, fast and reliable. Flash can deliver the first 2, but the last 2 are a crap shoot, especially on a Mac, and non-existent on a mobile device to date. At this point in time, the war is basically over. Adobe waited too long to get their mobile product out the door and the industry is moving on.

  • Dot

    I'm one of the average consumers you talk about who don't care one way or the other. All I care about is having a device that does what I want it to do and so far, my iPhone does. Flash to me means another crashed public computer and Adobe means that the public computers are going to slow way down and perhaps crash, losing other people's print jobs and making a lot of extra work for me and several angry people. For me, that has put Adobe and Flash in the "don't work" pile. People can explain that it isn't that company's fault all they want but all I see is that they don't work on the computers I have to deal with. Why should I want them on my iPhone?

    The thing that does bother me is the juvenile nastiness and name calling, open letters, the sneering at and labeling people Apple fanboys and haters over a decision by someone who isn't your parent or high school principal. Apple's decision, from an average consumer standpoint, is a business decision based on Apple's experiences and conclusions and their best guesses about what their customers want and will pay for. Businesses do it all the time. Not everyone will like the decision or will feel that their needs aren't being met by the iPhone and will buy a different product because of it. That is normal. All this teen angst and Drama Queen behavior is not normal.