Adobe has again attacked Apple over its attitude towards Flash, accusing the Mac maker of whipping up opposition to the media player.
Chief technology office Kevin Lynch said he is “upset” over Apple’s refusal to allow Flash on iOS devices is “hurtful”, not only to Adobe but also content creators.
“I just think there’s this negative campaigning going on, and, for whatever reason, Apple is really choosing to incite it, and condone it,” Lynch told FastCompany. “I think that’s unfortunate. We don’t think it’s good for the web to have aspects closed off — a blockade of certain types of expression. There’s a decade of content out there that you just can’t view on Apple’s device, and I think that’s not only hurtful to Adobe, but hurtful to everyone that created that content.”
Lynch also dismissed claims that Flash has a significant impact on battery life. A recent test purported to show that a Flash-free MacBook Air could run for two hours longer. Lynch points to two alternative studies, although their findings are far from conclusive, especially in the Mac tests.
Lynch didn’t refer to Apple’s decision to ship the new MacBook Air without Flash, saying it prefers to leave it to users to install the web browser plugin themselves to ensure they get the latest version. Adobe has criticised Apple in the past for not distributing the most recent Flash Player, though its own record isn’t perfect.
[photo: Kevin Lynch, CTO of Adobe by Robert Scoble; some rights reserved]
