The writer Darrell Etherington is trying to convince the Apple users
(especially i Phone users) who feel that lack of Flash Player on the i
Phone is a disadvantage to it. The writer’s intention is clearly revealed
in the title of the editorial, “i Phone out of the flash party – Big Deal”. So,
basically the writer didn’t care if the i phone participated in the Flash
Party or not. Flash is getting an update to 10.1 (i.e., Flash 10.1) which
will bring support for full flash functionality. There are many leading
companies like Google Android, Symbian, and now BlackBerry signed
for working together on the Open Screen Project. Open Screen project
will allow the mobiles to get full-fledged Flash experience to all platforms,
including HD video and Adobe Air applications.
I phone did not take part in the Flash party (Flash 10.1) because Apple
wanted to adhere to its policy of staying away from a technology that
may be widespread. Many of the i phone users don’t see this as a
disadvantage because there are very few things that requires only Flash
player . There are some gaming sites and also some online
advertising, which requires Flash player. Actually, both of these issues
can be categorized under “Advertisement”. So, many i Phone users do
not feel the lack of Flash player as a disadvantage. Whenever they
(i Phone users) face a problem opening some gaming website or some
big-budget movies , they simply shrug their shoulders and move away
rather than scolding or blaming the i Phone for not having the Flash
player. The second reason is that some people don’t like Adobe Air on
their desktop. It may be due to many reasons, may be they don’t like
Flash as such and hence they are not using Adobe Air. If they have
Adobe Air on their desktop, the desktop will crah every couple of days
and they(i Phone) users don’t want this sort of thing to happen on
their i Phone. They try to avoid Adobe Air at all costs which basically
meant that they don’t have to use it as long as they don’t use windows.
They even say that aside from Air, what has Flash really done for them
lately?
Moreover there are some new soft wares and new technologies that can
replace Flash player. CSS animation and other dynamic HTML 5 effects
are making extruding strides which will eventually bypass the things
like Flash altogether. HTML 5 is the next major revision of HTML of the
world wide web. So, now the dynamic HTML 5 is launched as the
rival of the Flash player. Also, Apple search giant is a strong proponent
of HTML 5. Every new feature in the browsers chips away at the walled
nature of the App store because it makes websites behave more and
more like dedicated i Phone applications. HTML 5 also allows advance
graphics , real time two way streaming (including binary data) and
audio. When Apple removes an application, the affected company can
rebuild on a website using HTML 5. HTML 5 and CSS animation will
be likely included in future W3 specifications.
The writer makes his point clear that he is not upset by the fact that
Apple is not participating in the Flash party rather he feels glad that
Apple is sticking to its own policy of staying away from tech that is
widely spread. So , the writer Darrell Etherington didn’t show any kind
of ambiguity in his editorial.
I personally feel that it is better for if Apple does not involve itself in the
Open Screen Project because Apple has got the recognition of being
different from rest of the normal technologies. Apple has introduce
MAC, i Phone to the world and gained a giant leap over the windows
which was there since many years. So, it is the tradition of Apple that it
does things in a very different manner than other companies do. It is
not only the case that is dealing with technologies, but the way that
these ideas are brought up and used in the market. Well Apple has a
different and successful kind of approach towards the market. It has
been very particular about its products and also it has made its point
clear by not signing the Open Screen Project. Apple has not mended
their own ways till now , so I don’t find any reason why Apple should
now change its policy and sign the Open Screen Project. So, it is
good for Apple to adhere to its own policy which was very successful
ever since it was launched. I have also conducted a small survey of the
people who have an i Phone. I have asked them a question that do they
feel the lack of Flash player in their i Phone.? 80 % of the people said
that they really don’t care if they have the Flash player because there
are hardly any websites that require only Flash Player. Where as some
people are concerned about this issue and they try to blame i Phone for
it.
This discussion or rather the fight between i Phone having Flash or not
is really turning out to be one of the hot topic in the field of technology.
There are many questions raised against Apple for not joining the Flash
party. Apple has already made it clear that it will not join the Flash party
because it doesn’t want to mend their policy. There are a few articles
that have a similar discussion as this editorial has but some of them try
to contradict with the fact that i Phone is not participating in the Flash
party. Colin Gibbs in his article “ Adobe’s Open Screen Project: Bigger
than the i Phone” stated the importance of i Phone in the world and to
what extent it is used by the people. He (Colin Gibbs) seems to give
i Phone a special kind of importance in his article. He stated that i Phone
dominated the traffic in the wireless world. The title “ Adobe’s Open
Screen Project: Bigger than the i Phone”, the usage of the word “the”
before i Phone seems to give it a special importance. He said that Apple
signing the open Screen Project is a far bigger play. Colin also feels that
Apple doesn’t seem to be willing to join the Flash party with other
companies. So, its not only one editorial that feels that Apple does not
want to sign the Open Screen Project but the article by Colin also seem
to state the same thing in a different manner.
So, finally Darrell Etherington and I personally feel that it would be
better if i Phone does not sign the Open Screen Project but rather
adhere to its policy of staying away from widespread technologies.
