Is it pointless to petition Apple about Flash?
flash/ipad FAQ iPad-Flash NewsPublished March 14, 2010 at 10:01 pm 2 CommentsPointlessness is probably the number one response of people who decide not to sign our petition. And I accept that, despite the arguments below, it could well indeed prove pointless. However, there is enough risk about what Apple are doing with the iPad that I believe it is worth trying to make a stink about Flash. And there is another, more fundamental reason why I believe it is a litmus issue.
While Apple created a masterful amount of hype around the iPad, the consensus is that it is by no means a sure fire hit. If Apple see it as more than a niche product – more of an iPod scale of success than another Apple TV or Macbook Air, then they will have their work cut out for them. They need to create a market for the device. The existing market for small mobile sub-laptop type devices such as netbooks, and for ebook readers, is a shark pool compared to the premium laptop market Apple is used to dominating. Analysts are doubtful, but all agree if anyone can do it it is Apple.
“No Flash” is a regular near the top of lists of iPad gripes and dealbreakers. Unlike more arcane complaints such as no multitasking or port options, which are more significant to pundits and technorati, Flash is an issue that average users will experience every time they web surf with iPad. On a screen the scale of a small laptop, the lack of flash is more glaring than on, say, the iPhone, where it is simply amazing that the internet works well and usably at all. Bottom line, iPad is supposed to be a media consumption device, it promises the best browsing experience you’ve ever had, and yet a fair whack of the internet does not work on it.
Steve Jobs’ famous “third leg of the chair” analogy leaves it in no doubt that iPad is important to Apple. With a low hardware margin, they would be counting on the estimated 30% revenue that will come from iTunes store purchases on the iPad. On the one hand, Flash might compromise that, by allowing pseudo-apps that bypass the App store. But on the other hand, they really need iPad to finds its market and sell gangbusters. The aggressive pricing (for Apple) shows they want volume. If Flash becomes a major hurdle to purchase in the minds of the public, then I believe it could be an area where they compromise. The need to be a success would I believe outweigh the potential of flash to nibble away at profits in the App store, if it came down to a choice. It could be similar to the situation where, despite their reluctance to add radio and video to the iPod, in order to remove competitor advantage, Apple eventually caved in.
And the more fundamental issue at stake? Apologies for grandiosity, but its the soul of Apple. I see this as a milestone for how far – and not in a good way – Apple have come since the famous 1984 ad. Flushed with success in the Mobile arena, Apple have quickly become the fascist regime – and it looks like its up to Google to throw the hammer now. So I say complain on, my friends.
Damn straight!
I have changed my view AND the petition since writing this article. Apple are far more entrenched in their dislike of Flash than I would have imagined – which only goes to show how much of a threat they see it as. The petition is now merely telling Apple we are not happy about it, without much expectation that the situation will change. The fact is that the iPad’s version of the web is broken, and users notice it all the time. That needs to be a problem for Apple, who have sacrificed the users needs to their own obsessive need to control the platform.