If these three words did not trigger the appearance of an image of two babies fighting over a toy in your imaginary, you’ve probably lived the last months with your head stuck in the sand. The story is quite complicated however, so I think everybody deserves a recap.

Apple’s iPhone is now widely considered to be a revolutionary product, and many still consider it the best phone on the market. However popular it is, the iPhone has a limited functionality in some small domains compared to other phones, and one of these is Adobe Flash support.

The story begins when Apple had refused to include Adobe’s Flash platform to their iPhone because it was inefficient and buggy. Adobe, of course, did not appreciate that so they went to other phone makers and easily struck deals to include their Flash platform. That didn’t bother many people. Those who thought Flash was important when browsing the web from a mobile device bought Android phones or RIM’s Blackberrys, but most people didn’t give a damn. Then Apple released the “magical” iPad. It used more or less the same OS as the iPhone. Like the iPhone, it didn’t support Flash. Contrarily to the iPhone, people started to be “shocked” by its limitations.

The iPad was presented as a netbook replacement, something that would “bring the web right to your hands.” Everybody loves the idea, obviously, but not everybody loves to have the Internet without Flash.

Adobe saw that the time was right. Everybody was pissed of from the fact that the iPad did not support Flash. They started throwing a tantrum.

Apple puts up with a lot. People bash it all the time; after all, that’s what happens when you become a successful company. But apparently Apple wasn’t going to put up with Adobe.

The 29th of April, Steve Jobs published the infamous “Thoughts on Flash.” In the letter, Apple’s CEO attack Flash. Even worst, he destroyed it. He explained that Flash was a closed technology, that it was already being replaced by the HTML5 standard and the new H.264 video codec, was unreliable in terms of security and stability, drained battery life, was not adapted to touchscreens, and that he just plain didn’t want it on his iPhone. If you want to learn how to slap a tech company, read this letter. This is how it goes:

Thoughts on Flash by Steve Jobs

Apple has a long relationship with Adobe. [...]. Today the two companies still work together to serve their joint creative customers – Mac users buy around half of Adobe’s Creative Suite products – but beyond that there are few joint interests.

I wanted to jot down some of our thoughts on Adobe’s Flash products so that customers and critics may better understand why we do not allow Flash on iPhones, iPods and iPads. Adobe has characterized our decision as being primarily business driven – they say we want to protect our App Store – but in reality it is based on technology issues. Adobe claims that we are a closed system, and that Flash is open, but in fact the opposite is true. Let me explain.

First, there’s “Open”.

Adobe’s Flash products are 100% proprietary. They are only available from Adobe, and Adobe has sole authority as to their future enhancement, pricing, etc. While Adobe’s Flash products are widely available, this does not mean they are open, since they are controlled entirely by Adobe and available only from Adobe. By almost any definition, Flash is a closed system.

Apple has many proprietary products too. Though the operating system for the iPhone, iPod and iPad is proprietary, we strongly believe that all standards pertaining to the web should be open. Rather than use Flash, Apple has adopted HTML5, CSS and JavaScript – all open standards. [...]

Second, there’s the “full web”.

Adobe has repeatedly said that Apple mobile devices cannot access “the full web” because 75% of video on the web is in Flash. What they don’t say is that almost all this video is also available in a more modern format, H.264, and viewable on iPhones, iPods and iPads. [...]

Another Adobe claim is that Apple devices cannot play Flash games. This is true. Fortunately, there are over 50,000 games and entertainment titles on the App Store, and many of them are free. [...]

Third, there’s reliability, security and performance.

Symantec recently highlighted Flash for having one of the worst security records in 2009. We also know first hand that Flash is the number one reason Macs crash. We have been working with Adobe to fix these problems, but they have persisted for several years now. We don’t want to reduce the reliability and security of our iPhones, iPods and iPads by adding Flash.

In addition, Flash has not performed well on mobile devices. [...]

Fourth, there’s battery life.

To achieve long battery life when playing video, mobile devices must decode the video in hardware; decoding it in software uses too much power. Many of the chips used in modern mobile devices contain a decoder called H.264 – an industry standard that is used in every Blu-ray DVD player and has been adopted by Apple, Google (YouTube), Vimeo, Netflix and many other companies. [...]

Fifth, there’s Touch.

Flash was designed for PCs using mice, not for touch screens using fingers. For example, many Flash websites rely on “rollovers”, which pop up menus or other elements when the mouse arrow hovers over a specific spot. Apple’s revolutionary multi-touch interface doesn’t use a mouse, and there is no concept of a rollover. Most Flash websites will need to be rewritten to support touch-based devices. If developers need to rewrite their Flash websites, why not use modern technologies like HTML5, CSS and JavaScript? [...]

Sixth, the most important reason.

Besides the fact that Flash is closed and proprietary, has major technical drawbacks, and doesn’t support touch based devices, there is an even more important reason we do not allow Flash on iPhones, iPods and iPads. We have discussed the downsides of using Flash to play video and interactive content from websites, but Adobe also wants developers to adopt Flash to create apps that run on our mobile devices.

We know from painful experience that letting a third party layer of software come between the platform and the developer ultimately results in sub-standard apps and hinders the enhancement and progress of the platform.[...]

Flash is a cross platform development tool. It is not Adobe’s goal to help developers write the best iPhone, iPod and iPad apps. It is their goal to help developers write cross platform apps. And Adobe has been painfully slow to adopt enhancements to Apple’s platforms. [...]

Our motivation is simple – we want to provide the most advanced and innovative platform to our developers, and we want them to stand directly on the shoulders of this platform and create the best apps the world has ever seen. We want to continually enhance the platform so developers can create even more amazing, powerful, fun and useful applications.

[...] Flash is a successful business for Adobe, and we can understand why they want to push it beyond PCs. But the mobile era is about low power devices, touch interfaces and open web standards – all areas where Flash falls short.[...]

New open standards created in the mobile era, such as HTML5, will win on mobile devices (and PCs too). Perhaps Adobe should focus more on creating great HTML5 tools for the future, and less on criticizing Apple for leaving the past behind.

What Steve Jobs wrote about Flash is very true, but also incredibly hypocritical. How can someone from a company like Apple talk about being open as if it were a supreme value? How can anyone talk about openness on the iPhone without mentioning that the iPhone is probably the most closed platform that exists today (Flash included)? With a letter like that one, anyone who was interested in open standards was reacting, and not everyone appreciated Jobs’s letter. Some big names entered the debate. Big names like the Mozilla corporation.

Mozilla is very famous for their web browser–Firefox–which is the world’s second most popular browser, far above even Apple and Google’s propositions.

Mozilla doesn’t care about Flash, but they care about something else: open standards. After all, Mozilla is an open source company.

So Mozilla decided to drop a bomb. If the problem with Flash was that it wasn’t open, then it should be replaced by HTML5. But what Apple (and Google) called HTML5 was not truly open. The video codec that was a the center of all this buzz–H.264–is built on patented technology. Why does Apple not care? From the 25+ patent holders of technologies included in H.264 we inevitably find Apple. Mozilla therefore stated that it would not support the codec. In the name of an open web. Ironic, isn’t it?

Of course, it does not end there: Adobe still needed to have their last say. That’s when they started advertising the battle. All over the web, in magazines, and elsewhere, Adobe create a set of ads that read: “We <3 Apple.” Really? The catch was in the second, smaller text: “What we don’t love is anybody taking away your freedom to choose what you create, how you create it, and what you experience on the web.” Spot on.

Here’s the letter from Adobe’s Cofounders and Chairmen. that might clear up your ideas on what Adobe’s thinking:

Our thoughts on open markets by Chuck Geschke and John Warnock

The genius of the Internet is its almost infinite openness to innovation. New hardware. New software. New applications. New ideas. They all get their chance.

As the founders of Adobe, we believe open markets are in the best interest of developers, content owners, and consumers. Freedom of choice on the web has unleashed an explosion of content and transformed how we work, learn, communicate, and, ultimately, express ourselves.

If the web fragments into closed systems, if companies put content and applications behind walls, some indeed may thrive — but their success will come at the expense of the very creativity and innovation that has made the Internet a revolutionary force.

We believe that consumers should be able to freely access their favorite content and applications, regardless of what computer they have, what browser they like, or what device suits their needs. No company — no matter how big or how creative — should dictate what you can create, how you create it, or what you can experience on the web.

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 publish the specifications for Flash — meaning anyone can make their own Flash player. Yet, Adobe Flash technology remains the market leader because of the constant creativity and technical innovation of our employees.

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.

In the end, we believe the question is really this: Who controls the World Wide Web? And we believe the answer is: nobody — and everybody, but certainly not a single company.

Adobe also created a website for promoting Flash. the domain? OpenFlash.org Talk about a surprize! It’s worth visiting however, especially if you have only read Steve Jobs’ letter and want to see the world from the other perspectve. http://www.openflash.org/choice/

The story ends here. Or does it?

Apple still doesn’t agree with Adobe. Apple believes that an open web should not include Flash. Indeed, “Standards aren’t add-ons to the web.” That’s why they have created a beautiful web page to prove that Apple “supports web standards including HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript. These web standards are open, reliable, highly secure, and efficient. They allow web designers and developers to create advanced graphics, typography, animations, and transitions.”

True to their tradition, Apple made a beautiful web page: clean, direct, with no more text than there should be. It’s goal: to prove that you can do anything you want on the web without Flash. You’ll need Safari for that.

Here’s to our open web.

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Note: This article, just as Steve Jobs’s and most others, ignores that H.264 has been supported by Flash since autumn 2007. I ignore this fact as I believe that the codec itself is a problem and should not be included in either HTML5 or anything else that pretends to represent “open” standards.

PS: I was never able to view Apple’s HTML5, CSS3 and JavaScript demo. Safari is not available for Linux.

• Personas: New Firefox themes called “Personas” let you change the look of your Firefox with a single click. Choose anything from simple designs to colorful patterns to content from community members and partners like Harry Potter, Bob Marley or Lady Gaga. With a gallery of over 35,000 to choose from, you can change your Persona as often as you like. Go to GetPersonas.com to start browsing the galleries and check out “Themes” in the Add-Ons Manager to manage your designs.
• Plugin Updater: Some Web pages require that you install small applications called Plugins to watch videos, play games or view documents. It can be hard to make sure that all of your Plugins are always up to date. Since outdated Plugins are a security risk, Firefox will let you know when you have a Plugin that’s vulnerable to attack and help you get an updated version. If you want to check your Plugins at any time, just select “Check for Updates” from the Help menu, or click on “Find Updates” in the Plugins page of the Add-ons Manager.
• Stability improvements: Firefox 3.6 significantly decreased crashes caused by third party software – all without sacrificing our extensibility in any way
• Form Complete: It’s like the Awesome Bar, but for forms. Now, when you’re filling out an online form like your shipping address, Firefox will suggest information for each field based on your most common answers for similar fields in other forms (rather than just showing you an alphabetical list). Instead of typing out the same answers over and over, you’ll be zipping through the forms in no time.
• Performance: Improved JavaScript performance, overall browser responsiveness, and startup time
• Open Video and Audio: With the world’s best implementation of HTML 5 audio and video support, now video can be displayed full screen and supports poster frames

And for our fellow developers:

• Support for the latest HTML5 specification, including the File API for local file handling
• Font Support: In addition to OpenType and TrueType fonts, 3.6 now supports the new Web Open Font Format (WOFF)
• CSS gradients: Supports linear and radial CSS gradients which allow for a smoother transition between colors
• Device orientation: Firefox 3.6 exposes the orientation of the laptop or device to Web pages

Whether the new Firefox can live up to our expectations is yet to be seen. The last Thunderbird release left some users frustrated because of add-on incompatibility and flash-related problems (we even got some mail regarding these issues), but Mozilla products are usually of great quality, and I shall hit the update button without hesitation.
If you do however give it second thoughts, I’ll leave the job of convincing you to Mike Beltzner, Director of Firefox Development:

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Mozilla is taking act on the several innovations that have been popping up these last years in interface design, and they’re taking act. According to the last Firefox 4 mockups from a developer, the interface will slightly ape Google Chrome’s as well as one feature from Office 2007. First of all, the tabs-on-top configuration is likely to take over. Secondly, Mozilla will be adding an “app button” that will group all of Firefox’s most common actions. Some other ideas, like a progress bar sitting on top of the browsers’ tabs, that the blog post doesn’t talk about are also features in the mockup (below).

But the real innovation may be yet to come. The “Challenge” proposed by Mozilla has the goal of creating the content of the “home tab”, an entire new concept that will be introduced with Firefox 4. It’s now the users turn to tell the developer what they need.

So you’re bored now that you’ve received your Christmas presents? Why not have a go a that challenge? The next Firefox may have a bit of you in it.

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Thumbnail credit: Arjan Menger