iPad Can’t Display Flash, doesn’t have to…
When Steve Jobs demonstrated the Apple iPad on Wednesday, many observed that the iPad was incapable of displaying Flash. Web sites displayed on the iPad’s screen had blank squares in place of Flash content.
Adobe Flash is one of most popular applications and is installed on 98 percent of all computers. Many popular websites such as YouTube videos run on it. Additionally, most online gaming sites also use Adobe Flash.
Taking the popularity of Adobe Flash into consideration, it looks strange that Apple has no intentions to support it. Flash is present on almost every Apple desktop and laptop, but it is not available for the iPhone. Apple says Flash is too slow and is concerned over Flash vulnerability to viruses and other malware.
Adobe, on the other hand, believes that Apple’s opposition has something to do with its intentions to control the iTunes system.
Apple may not have to support Flash at all. A new video format, called HTML5 is on its way. Unlike Flash, which is a downloaded piece of software that can interact with a computer’s operating system, HTML5 works directly in a Web browser. And so Apple has to just wait for sometime till HTML5 becomes mainstream.
YouTube announced this year that it was testing HTML5 for select videos. Vimeo.com is also experimenting with new platforms. Other video sites such as Blip.tv and Flickr.com also hope to start experimenting with alternatives to the Flash video platform in the coming year.
The standoff between Apple and Adobe continues as of now. And the way things are moving, Apple may have the upper hand.
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