It looks like Steven Jobs messed with the wrong Web animation software.
With the future of online content consumption on the line, Apple's CEO recently defended his decision not to
support Adobe Flash on the iPad to executives at The Wall Street Journal. Going even further, sources tell ValleyWag that
Jobs called Flash a "CPU hog," a source of "security holes," and a dying technology. "We don't
spend a lot of energy on old technology," Jobs said before comparing Flash to other technologies that Apple has rendered obsolete, including floppy drives and CDs.
"Welcome to
the nasty side of Jobs's famous Reality Distortion Field," writes ValleyWag.
"Who is he
kidding?" asks an incredulous VentureBeat. "Jobs knows Flash isn't dying, it's taking off like crazy, delivering an estimated 3 out of 4 Web videos."
What's more, like many
publishers, the Journal is heavily invested in Flash as a way to deploy video, photographic slide shows, and other interactive "infographics" and news applications.
Perhaps as a
result, shortly after Jobs met with Journal execs, editorial board member Holman Jenkins wrote an op-ed in the paper about how Apple "is in danger of becoming preoccupied with zero-sum maneuvering
versus hated rivals." His primary and lead example? Jobs' decision to keep Flash off the iPad.
"The problem with Jobs's approach is that it's costing him credibility," concludes The Guardian. "The suggestion that Apple might end up rolling out 'increasingly junky devices' to lock users
into its content shop was probably not the result that Jobs had in mind when he showed off the iPad."
"The fun of following this will be to watch how many content publishers
follow Jobs' lead and how many don't," write GottaBeMobile.com. "Other Tablet OEMs are already beginning to tout that their devices will support Flash, so there's a potential opening there once the
verdict on the iPad starts to become clearer in about 5 to 6 weeks or so."
The Register (UK) adds: "We're not quite so convinced that Mr. Murdoch (owner of the Journal, Fox News,
Sky TV, The Times, The Sun and so forth) will be quite so willing to re-engineer his product to suit Apple." Quite. "At least, not without
significant concessions on the Cupertino side."
Read the whole story at Guardian (UK) et al. »