Interesting points you make. I don’t agree that it is pointless to talk about Flash on an iPhone at all though. I take your point about the processing power of the iPhone, but if you look at other devices coming out they can support Flash.

Similarly if you look at the Eee PC Flash works brilliantly on that. The Eee PC is a seriously cut-down PC.

The point I’m trying to make is that if the iPhone becomes the public accepted face of digital devices the the lack of Flash could be a real problem.

For example, in my area – within education – digital devices are now emerging that are cut price and attempting to provide as useful a resource as possible. Currently it would be unthinkable for any educational device not to include Flash. I’m concerned that the continued success of the iPhone without Flash might mean that future manufacturers consider not bothering with Flash because they can use alternative technologies.

It sounds cool to have a phone that could have the full Flash Player on it. I’d buy it immediately. But can you imagine if you tried to view any sort of relatively heavy Flash/Flex content on an iPhone? The thing would certainly not be able to handle it.

Ya know, Jobs basically said that Flash isn’t good enough for the iPhone. Any smart person can realize that he was referring to Flash Lite. Based on this, the one thing I could assure you about though, is that Steve Jobs would never hesitate to put a full featured Flash Player on his iPhone if he could guarantee the phone would be able to run any/all content with relative ease.

It sounds cool to have a phone that could have the full Flash Player on it. I’d buy it immediately. But can you imagine if you tried to view any sort of relatively heavy Flash/Flex content on an iPhone? The thing would certainly not be able to handle it. The one thing I could assure you about though, is that Steve Jobs would never hesitate to put a full featured Flash Player on his iPhone if he could guarantee the phone would be able to run any/all content with relative ease.

In my opinion, its really becoming an old topic.

The second point you criticise me on is directly wrong. I was saying that most manufacturers are copying Apple with their new innovations. I was saying that I hope the lack of Flash on the iPhone might lead others to consider the point of bothering. I actually entirely agree with what you are saying!

Finally, I agree that the iPhone is hardly the standard, but it is the only mobile phone that gets wall to wall coverage, massive free advertising and the mobile device that many people have heard about. Whilst it doesn’t set the standards, it is the public face of mobile devices.

Second, why wouldn’t competitors want to put Flash on their phones just because the iPhone lacks it? Tons of phones already support Flash, and it’s basic business sense to provide what your competitor doesn’t.

Third, the iPhone is hardly the standard for mobile devices.

Sure, I can muck around with javascript, css, html, etc… but I like the capabilities of the Flash player for animation/graphic purposes.

It is totally bitter and unrealistic, but it would be fitting if Adobe just didn’t release CS4 on the mac. Yea, there are other tools out there, but the fact is, most designers and firms out there just can’t afford to switch tools.

SGI is a good example of a cocky company who neglected their partners. I worked with a lot of their internal teams and the company had this attitude that the software vendors needed them, not the other way around. Then when the software migrated away, SGI lost their hold in the entertainment/effects marketspace. It seemed like it happened overnight.

It is about time someone runs down the isle past the memorized drones and smashes the Apple/Jobs screen with a hammer. Didn’t someone do that before? wasn’t someone thinking different and encouraging diversity?

Hrm.

iPhone has Exchange connectivity, has the features of any modern smartphone, it is an open platform , infact both the development IDE and the SDK are free and you don’t have to pay to sell or release you content/application. I have been developeing for Symbian for the past 7 years and the environment and the programming model of the iPhone is years ahead of anything I saw coming out from Nokia/Symbian. Of course if you mean that it is not open because it doesn’t have Flash, I’m shure that any FlaSheep will agree with you

I want Exchange connectivity, I want open platform for creating apps, and I don’t want to have to pay to publish them. I also want to have a device that readily accepts and adapts to new technologies, like 3G and Flash… something that has taken Apple forever to realize is needed.

For the iSheeps, the iPhone can do no wrong. For those of us with sensible desires in our mobile computing platform, the iPhone is nothing more than a pretty toy.

Perhaps disaster is a bit strong, but I did think about that as I was typing. Whilst current traffic via the iPhone is not worth bothering with, surely this new release will change that?

Also, the knock on effect needs to be considered – just as the EeePC is the standard for a ‘netbook’, the iPhone / iPod touch is clearly the standard for mobile devices. The lack of Flash could mean competitors don’t bother to push Flash either. Yet, perhaps other providers might see Flash as a great way to get ahead of Apple’s versions.

>> Laurent

Good points – if it is just hesitation, then that is great. My concern is that it isn’t hesitation at all.