Adobe on Open Markets
As you probably noticed, yesterday Adobe ran some ads expressing its thoughts on the importance of open markets. I think Adobe’s position is best summarized in an open letter from Adobe’s founders, John Warnock and Chuck Geschke:
When markets are open, anyone with a great idea has a chance to drive innovation and find new customers. Adobe’s business philosophy is based on a premise that, in an open market, the best products will win in the end — and the best way to compete is to create the best technology and innovate faster than your competitors….
We believe that Apple, by taking the opposite approach, has taken a step that could undermine this next chapter of the web — the chapter in which mobile devices outnumber computers, any individual can be a publisher, and content is accessed anywhere and at any time.
One thing that seems to be causing some confusion is the word “open”. Many feel that Adobe is arguing that Flash / Adobe is more open than Apple and its toolchain. In particular, Apple has been trying to frame the discussion around this argument. Flash is not necessarily more or less open than Apple’s tool chain. Parts of the Flash ecosystem are proprietary, and parts are open (either specifications or open source). The same applies for Apple’s toolchain.
Adobe isn’t arguing that the Flash toolchain is more open than Apple’s toolchain. We are arguing that the web is an open ecosystem where developers can choose how they develop and deploy their content. There is no single entity that acts as a gatekeeper and can restrict content on business, editorial or any other grounds. Apple is building a platform that is the exact opposite of that. That is their choice of course, and ultimately consumers and developers will decide whether to accept it. However, Adobe does not feel that is good for the web.
I think that John Nack has done the best job of explaining some of the dangers and concerns around this:
First, all these conversations tend to get framed in terms of Adobe Flash. That’s a mistake. Apple’s decision to deny customers the choice of whether to use Flash on iPads/iPhones is just one part of a bigger, more interesting question: What maximizes innovation & ultimate benefit to customers?…
You shouldn’t care about this stuff because you love or hate Adobe. You should care because these issues affect your choices as a customer & a creative person.
So, while Flash is part of the discussion, and one of the things that set off this chain of events, the implications of Apple’s actions go far beyond Flash. It is an issue around open markets, and the implications that such a closed ecosystem has on on choice and innovation.
Please keep comments constructive and on topic. Off topic comments may be moderated / deleted.
You hit the nail on the head… “We are arguing that the web is an open ecosystem where developers can choose how they develop and deploy their content.”
I heard someone put the issue in this perspective. Apple is trying to reinvent the way we consume the internet, media, etc… basically by creating these handheld personal computers that they control every aspect of. So what if Apple told you that you couldn’t use Microsoft Office on Mac, you would have to use iWorks for everything.
The same thing is happening here when Apple limits developers, the only issue is that Apple’s bottom line won’t be affect immediately. I do think Apple’s egomaniac philosophy will accelerate the adopting of Android-based phones.
Thank you Adobe for being an advocate of developers!
Lee Graham
14 May 10 at 1:07 pm
This is why I say web-plugins not being implemented on capable devices like iPhone/iPad is a loss for everyone, even the HTML developer who doesn’t use web-plugins. It’s setting the precedent for manufacturers to place restrictions on web-content however it best suits their interests. A lack of web-plugins might not affect the HTML guy directly, but he may be adversely affected by rogue decisions in the future. Microsoft might decide not to support sites that load Gianduia frameworks on Windows Phone 7, Blackberry may not include support for canvas, or GIF. Fractured support for the web is not good for developers, or publishers. Web-plugins have been with us for over a decade. They have a standardized implementation on the web with the NPAPI: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NPAPI
Being hypothetical, and disregarding the merits of web-plugins, let’s imagine that the future is one where everyone develops web-apps with HTML/JS/CSS. There’d still be a massive chunk of legacy content built on web-plugins. You responsibly go through a period of transition, you don’t ditch transparent GIF the day PNG is released. The reality is that HTML5 is not here yet, it’s not arrived. HTML5′s range of browser-implementation is scattered & small. It’s performance & feature-set is less than that of the popular web-plugins. What reasonable logic is there to drop support for web-plugins, especially cold-turkey?
It’s safe to bet that web-plugins will continue to innovate at rapid pace which the web-standards groups cannot match with HTML/JS/CSS. I hate to think anyone is actually willing to limit web-developers to a 10-year cycle of innovation. Flash is opening up multi P2P capabilities ( http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/stratus ). Will that be in HTML6 debuted in 2020? Or should we resign ourselves to building native apps for each of the major desktop, and mobile platforms in order to access such functionality?
Web-plugins shine at leading technological innovation on the web, ya know, stuff developers crave. Let’s keep the web open folks, it’s for our own good = )
leef
14 May 10 at 1:32 pm
Adobe should concentrate on building cool stuff and forget its obsession with apple. Apple is not interested in anyones opinion anyway. This ad campaign is a mistake, it will only help apple to dominate the discussion once more. As much as I like flash, I agree with Sieglers Techcrunch-article on this.
dirk
14 May 10 at 1:55 pm
I think Adobe Flash is open in a few technologies. SWF is open and Flex SDK is open too, but the player is closed.
The question is that Apple is a company that makes decisions.
The main question is not that companies need to offer all the technologies, is the users that can make a decision.
Because Apple doesn’t support Flash, I’ll buy a Nexus One with Android!
Nacho López
14 May 10 at 3:58 pm
Mike, for several years a lot of Flash developers feels what will happens today and ask Adobe to take the lead and fully open source the Flash Player.
I do not understand, now that this is the heart of the debate, why Adobe does or tell nothing about this? I well understood and greatly appreciate what Adobe has done while open sourcing most parts of the Flash Platform, but more and more people ask for Adobe to fully open source the Flash Player in itself. But for now we just had a short report of possible difficulties created by the presence of proprietary libraries within the player as the only reason not to open-source Flash. In response to this some people gave Adobe examples of free software working with licensed libraries together with no problem. Why don’t Adobe make a big move on this and prove the whole web how Flash can REALLY be opened when Adobe wants it too? There’s plenty of solutions to get rid of proprietary vs opened solution problems, it’s a domain where Adobe probably now has best experts.
You may know but recently there were some move regarding the petition asking Adobe to open source Flash Player here http://www.openplayer.net/ even if current 700 signatories are still modest, it proves that the debate goes beyond the “Apple vs world” story. It also proves that people now want new stuff, they want HTML5 but new Flash stuff too and they want it OPENED. So please Adobe listen to us and discuss this subject seriously with YOUR fans!
Tekool
14 May 10 at 4:40 pm
Apple has already lost anyway…
They have no partners.
Apple will never let other phone manufactures use/deploy iPhone OS. The same way they never allowed computer manufactors to use Mac OSX. As a result Windows is installed on computers at 90% in the world, Apple has less than 5% of the market.
Apple will never let any other vendors access their iStores. Amazon partnered with other vendors and they remained the world leader in selling books/music/video.
Apple has lost its hype. Developers are looking for a wider and less restrictive market/platform to develop their application. There is no point in re-developing the same application for several platform and re-inventing the wheel each time, the cost is too high. The biggest market will get the attention and Android is certainly on the right track, although Microsoft can still do “miracles” and provide a new and smart Windows Mobile platform.
Steve Jobs is not immortal. His days are numbered.
Who else will be able to didact the world what they should use, see, feel and at the end think? World gurus are rare.
So no matter how Apple is doing now, the long term run is no longer shiny.
Baz
15 May 10 at 2:39 am
A far more neutral view here:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/05/14/adobe_apple_witchhunt/
This bit particularly strikes a chord:
“By Adobe’s logic, Sony should open the PlayStation to allow everyone to develop games for it. It can cost you $10,000 for a PS3 developer kit – that’s the price of admission to Sony’s market. (If there’s a cheaper option, as Microsoft offers for XNA, let me know). Many consider it a price worth paying. It’s a rounding error in the larger expense of creating a major game. The rewards are equally clear.”
Adobe (and its employees) are obviously trying their hardest to see through a campaign against Apple which just makes them look weak IMO. Its like the baby crying in the pram throwing its dummy out and screaming foul.
Surely Adobe can just get on with Flash without iPhone and iPad targeting and be happy with all the developers which will continue to buy their tooling (such as Photoshop for gfx, Dreamweaver for HTML).
Jethro
15 May 10 at 5:25 am
Be strategic–make Flash open source. There’s no specific revenue value to the flash player.
Competition to create the best flash tools will improve the overall market for Adobe.
Win through abundance, not scarcity. Apple will have to bow to the pressure created by the creative marketplace.
Charlie Crystle
16 May 10 at 2:16 pm
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“It is an issue around open markets, and the implications that such a closed ecosystem has on on choice and innovation.”
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The market _is_ open; let it decide. No-one is forced to buy Apple products. No-one is prevented from buying an open-source Android or Symbian device from the major handset manufacturers.
Weeks ago, Kevin Lynch said that Adobe was going to shift its focus away from the iPhone OS devices. Yet, since then, I didn’t see a national ad campaign detailing the bright future with “Google, RIM, Palm (soon to be HP), Microsoft, Nokia and others” or Android devices. No, instead Adobe representatives have spent their time putting out fires and pining after Apple.
Instead of writing blogs, comments, tweets and spending money on ads to take obtuse potshots at Apple, the easiest way to answer your critics would be to release a stable version of Flash that runs well on a mobile device. It really is as simple as that.
The vacuum creates misperceptions.
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“As a result Windows is installed on computers at 90% in the world, Apple has less than 5% of the market.”
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Yet the WSJ reports that Apple is now the 3rd biggest company in the US, and rising, based on market cap — next to Exxon and Microsoft. Apple also makes up ~30% of profit share in markets (PC, handhelds, etc.) where it only makes up ~5% revenue share.
It’s not in any company’s best interests to chase market share as an end in itself. It has caused Microsoft no end of grief.
Marcus
17 May 10 at 10:02 pm
“Thank you Adobe for being an advocate of developers!”
Now this is too much. Today Apple’s the greedy monster of choice, but that doesn’t necessarily make a Robin Hood out of Adobe. They (Mike included) are trying to defend themselves against a very nasty and polemic try to discredit a technology they’re developing and selling. And that’s about it. Whether one company has a richer catalogue of so-called “open” products (whatever that means) is a very obsolete discussion.
Mike, your last 6 post treated the Apple vs Adobe issue. I’ve had enough of it. Get rid of those “misperceptions” by delivering quality and cutting edge technology not by quoting the most favourable benchmarks. Finish this 10.1 rocket we’ve all been waiting for instead of re-bashing. Let’s focus on our cup of tea and let Apple drown in their closed markets. They tried to walk alone once and they won’t make it just once again.
Lukas Buenger
18 May 10 at 4:49 am
Adobe has to do an impressive job on Flash performance soon.
Joe
19 May 10 at 8:54 am