Adobe made a couple of big announcements about the future of Flash on mobile platforms. First, they announced that RIM has committed to making full Flash available on BlackBerries. Second, they showed an early version of compiling Flash into native iPhone apps as a way of getting them into the app store. Now some of the discussion has focused on all the problems with flash. And yes, there are many problems with Flash, the biggest being that it is a proprietary and closed system controlled by a single company. But for the time being that is also its greatest strength. Because the browser makers are a fractured bunch – witness the latest spat between Google and Microsoft (and Mozilla) over the Chrome Frame plugin – that is making web development needlessly difficult. So my contention is that competition is a good thing and the more ubiquitous Adobe can make Flash, the more it will help to shape HTML5 into viable alternative that actually works. And as this rant on HTML5 drag and drop or the endless codec debate for the HTML5 video tag suggest, we have a long way to go there. So I am cheering on Adobe and hoping that the browser makers get the message.
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