- Image via CrunchBase
On April 3, an Adobe technical project manager demonstrated that Adobe’s new Air software could be used to develop across platforms—he created a Reversi game app that runs on Android, iPhone, iPad, Windows 7, Ubuntu, and OS X (see potential caveats in comments here). Cool! As JZ said, via email, “if this is really possible, I feel better about the iPad, because developers don’t have to choose among platforms to which to devote energy.”
Whoops: Five days later, Steve Jobs announced modified Apple developer rules banning use of “intermediary” tools such as Air—in other words, there will be no more cross-platform development. Adobe employees: not happy.
This is starting to sound pretty antitrust-y. It’s hard to think of any logical reason Apple cares where an app’s code originates—unless, of course, it just wants to hurt Adobe at every turn. Unfortunately, it’s been hard to find knowledgeable people analyzing actual antitrust law—anyone know of a good blog? (For what it’s worth, this old post from the Antitrust Law Blog indicates that the tech sector, including Apple, is under heavier scrutiny from the DOJ and FTC.)
Not surprisingly, there are rumors a lawsuit is brewing.
As usual, there’s another chapter in this saga: Flash translation. In a related but not identical story, Apple has long been hostile to Adobe’s Flash multimedia platform, citing stability and security concerns for refusing to offer Flash support for the iPhone and iPad. This puts websites that use Flash in a tough spot and limits iUsers’ access to content—75% of web video according to Adobe. Enter RipCode, which has developed a server-side translator solution. If an iPhone user attempts to access a Flash video, the “transcoder” detects the platform and translates the video into a compatible format. Since the transcoder is run off the website’s server, it doesn’t require Apple’s approval. Assuming it’s reliable, this is a nice example of a how the generative web allows enterprising developers to solve problems (or, depending on your point of view, do end-runs around the rules).
—By Jennifer Halbleib and Elisabeth Oppenheimer
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