Apple May Be Forced to Allow Developers to Create iPhone Apps with Adobe Tools Discussion

[Ed Hardy]

The U.S. government is supposedly looking into whether Apple broke antitrust law with a recent change in its developer agreement that blocks the use of tools like Adobe Flash CS5 to create iPhone apps.

Read the full content of this Article: Apple May Be Forced to Allow Developers to Create iPhone Apps with Adobe Tools

Related Articles:

• Adobe Gives Up on Tool that Would Let Flash Developers Create iPhone Apps
• Skyfire Web Browser for Android Offers Adobe Flash
• Android OS 2.2 Will Have Adobe Flash Built In
• Android OS Will Get Adobe Flash Player 10.1 Beta this Month

[r0k]

The U.S. government is supposedly looking into whether Apple broke antitrust law with a recent change in its developer agreement that blocks the use of tools like Adobe Flash CS5 to create iPhone apps.

Read the full content of this Article: Apple May Be Forced to Allow Developers to Create iPhone Apps with Adobe Tools

Related Articles:

• Adobe Gives Up on Tool that Would Let Flash Developers Create iPhone Apps
• Skyfire Web Browser for Android Offers Adobe Flash
• Android OS 2.2 Will Have Adobe Flash Built In
• Android OS Will Get Adobe Flash Player 10.1 Beta this Month

It only takes them a few days to react to a restriction on Adobe Flash but it took them decades to realize something was wrong with Microsoft's anti-competitive and monopolistic practices? This seems like a double standard to me. It's not like the iPad has sold 50 million and netbooks are only at a million. iPad has only sold a million. Just how does this tiny sliver of the computing market threaten Adobe? Could it be Adobe is the biggest threat to Adobe? Should flashblock, clicktoflash and adblock also get investigated by the US?

Ok, in all fairness, simply telling somebody they can't use this or that code generation tool is probably going too far. The code that winds up on the iPad is still native. The only inefficiencies will be in the way the code is generated and not in an intermediate "run time" layer. So one could argue that Apple is going overboard on this, but does this rise to the level of anti trust? I think not. Harder to produce cross platform apps? Shouldn't Microsoft be at the top of that list of suspects?

[harpgliss]

Hi,

This is pretty sad, on the part of Adobe.

They have been whining since being called out on flash and now whining about this too.

I am not saying Jobs and Apple is right on this but to involve the government is just giving Adobe a sad reputation and reinforcing Jobs opinion of their product.

David

[Varjak]

I have to say, I thought this would be the straw that broke the camel's back (although I thought the Google Voice fracas might have done it too).

I certainly support Apple's right to decide what to allow on their platform, etc.; but I don't see legally how they can prevent someone from using a utility to make that app. And as I asked here last week, how would Apple even know? Isn't the final product in the same programming language as any app that works on the iPhone OS?

I have to disagree with both rok and Harpgliss on this. To rok, you may be right, but don't we WANT our government to LEARN from its past mistakes (not that they've done so with the recent oil spill or financial crises)?

Harpgliss, I'm a 'small-government' fan; but one thing government SHOULD do (IMO) is referee certain 'big picture' disputes, and this is a big-picture dispute in the sense that it involves using a tool to create something. The same paradigm could apply to a MILLION different scenarios.

[harpgliss]

Hi,

Varjak, all I can say in rebuttal is, I think we will have to agree to disagree on this issue.

I do see government involvement in certain issues as a good thing but is so wrong here.

The possible involvement here just leaves me baffled.

David

[headcronie]

Bout dang time.

M$ got their rear end handed to them over monopolistic tendencies with IE.

This would be akin to telling everyone they had to code their sites for IE, and they had to use M$ tools to do so. You know that isn't going to happen legally. Why should this be any different.

Apple deserves every bit of scrutiny.

[harpgliss]

Hi,

Headcronie, last I checked, this was about tools to make apps or games for Iphone family of devices.

I did not see anywhere that Apple was limiting developers to their devices and saying you cannot develop for Android or WebOS, that would be illegal.

Your post makes this to be the case and it is just so wrong, look at apps available for all three platforms.

Dragging MS and IE and whatever else into this just is off topic, imo.

I am not a fanboy of Apple, by any stretch, but I do try to be objective.

David

[wshwe]

Flash runs like crap on smartphones.

[RickAgresta]

Bout dang time.

M$ got their rear end handed to them over monopolistic tendencies with IE.

This would be akin to telling everyone they had to code their sites for IE, and they had to use M$ tools to do so. You know that isn't going to happen legally. Why should this be any different.

Apple deserves every bit of scrutiny.

Hi,

Headcronie, last I checked, this was about tools to make apps or games for Iphone family of devices.

I did not see anywhere that Apple was limiting developers to their devices and saying you cannot develop for Android or WebOS, that would be illegal.

Your post makes this to be the case and it is just so wrong, look at apps available for all three platforms.

Dragging MS and IE and whatever else into this just is off topic, imo.

I am not a fanboy of Apple, by any stretch, but I do try to be objective.

David

I beg to differ, harpgliss; Apple is saying if you, a signatory of the developers contract, want to code for iPhone/iPodTouch, then you must use certain tools, pointedly excluding the Adobe product. headcronie's analogy was substituting the MS product, IE, for the iPhone/iPodTouch, and then saying that if you wanted to code for IE, then you had to use MS tools. I presume that one of the tools listed was an Apple product...

[harpgliss]

Hi,

I am not trying to be stubborn, just not seeing where the analogies fit or the reason for the outcry.

Having voiced my opinions on the subject, I think I will move back and be a follower instead of participant.

Discuss on.

David