Keys That Click - Minding your own design business and other observations

Posted in iPhone, Web, on April 29th, 2010 by Carlos.

Steve Jobs threw some wood on the fire with an open letter to Adobe regarding Apple’s position on Flash. El Jobso refers to open platform technologies, such as Webkit and HTML5, as being the future of the web in the mobile space. Meanwhile, Flash, being a closed and proprietary platform, is the wrong the direction for a truly open and free interwebs.

But what if Flash was open source? I know I have the benefit of being an outside blogger with an opinion, and not someone that truly understands the full legal, business/revenue, implications of such a comment, but it seems to make sense doesn’t it? Adobe would be showing Apple, developers and bloggers with opinions that they are serious about the future of Flash as a platform for the web. With the support of the open source community, I think you would see that Flash could run, and run well, on mobile devices. Sure, Flash as we know it today still needs to adapt to the touchscreen and mobile world, but i think it is possible to get there. Opening it up could be the way to make it happen. I think Adobe can either keep going on their current course and possibly spell the end of Flash as we know it, or shock us all and take a different stance. Go on Adobe, take Flash open source, and show the world you’re serious about Flash as a sustainable platform for the future. Otherwise, I think you’re just digging your own grave.

[Update: Just so you know... I'm not exactly a super supporter of open source. I mean I'm not against it, but I'm not one to think that it will create a world full of peace, harmony and kittens.]