Adobe has brought Flash to the iPhone, at least for standalone apps, without any help from Apple – after Steve Jobs famously declared last spring that Flash ran too slowly to be usable on the iPhone.
Adobe CTO Kevin Lynch mocked the situation at the MAX conference in a MythHackers video skit with Adobe senior VP Johnny Loiacono.
Lynch read out a letter from "Steve in Cupertino", saying "it's not possible to run Flash on the iPhone" and the pair then proceeded to test the myth using a blender, high voltage, a steamroller, high explosives and finally the Adobe engineering team – before showing off standalone Flash apps running on the iPhone.
Flash Product Marketing Manager Adrian Ludwig contrasted Apple's lack of co-operation with the other smartphone companies who have joined Adobe's Open Screen project: "With all the other partners we're working with, we're getting very strong support in getting hardware level co-operation to get the performance and playback on these devices."
NO FLASH: I don't believe it; the lack of Flash puzzles the Adobe MythHackers
Although he admitted that "there's also some hardware work that would be required to get the performance that people expect", he claimed the main problem was not performance but licensing and access.
"Just-in-time compilation is specifically forbidden in Apple licences and there's a restriction on runtime interpretation of code. And in order to run in the browser, we need Apple to support the APIs," said Ludwig.
"We need Apple's co-operation to integrate Flash in Safari," Ludwig added, "and we hope we can do that over time."
HERE GOES: The first attempt to integrate Flash with the iPhone; will it blend?
He emphasised end-user desire for Flash: "We see about 3 million users of iPhones visit adobe.com and request the Flash player on a monthly basis".
But CTO Lynch delivered a subtle warning that Apple is no longer the only smartphone game in town: "The smartphone space is going to become quite diverse; there are going to be a lot of excellent operating systems."
FLASH ON IPHONE: A Flash game – running on the iPhone
Lynch also suggested Apple can't afford to repeat past mistakes by being too proprietary. "It's like the early days of PC computing; people who are playing well with others are those who are going to get the bigger share. The Mac introduced the mouse into the mainstream but it didn't get the share of the marketplace. Windows came along and got a lot of share, mainly by playing well with others. It's like watching the movie again and interestingly it's many of the same players."
Watch the full skit below:
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Your comments (14) Click to add a new comment
nicolasmerritt
October 9th
14. Not at all. Disagree away, as vociferously as you like. But do it with some style, please...
Fuller guidelines here: http://www.techradar.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7095
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benbrown
October 9th
13. So on this site you just delete the accounts of anyone who disagrees with you? Brilliant.
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lovlid
October 9th
12. Cheers Nick.
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nicolasmerritt
October 9th
11. I've deleted jimsmith's comments, and in light of the last one, deleted his account.
Nick,
Editor in chief
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lovlid
October 9th
10. @ jimsmith.
Wow, you really are a piece of work. Are you really an ambassador for mac users everywhere?....er no. You can tell by the the way not ONE mac user over the age of twelve has come to your help and defended your point of view. Oh wait, you don't have a point of view. You just keep repeating yourself, over and over. "PCs are ****, you've got a virus,,,ner, ner, ner" Not very mature is it? Just embarrassing.
If any moderators are reading this, please look at the highly offensive words this vile little person uses in post 12 and kick him off site.
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boybunny
October 9th
9. @ jimsmith
I do hope a moderator will censure you for doing nothing more than insulting anyone who does not chose to use your brand of hardware.
It is very obvious to me that you have never used a Windows machine, as all your rhetoric is the phony trash spouted by the average ignorant Mac user. You have no substance at all, and obviously have a very tenuous grasp on reality, if any at all. Windows is not vulnerable if you know what you are doing. The fun thing is that XP64 and W7 seem to have cured most of the security problems by default during my time in the Apple wilderness.
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