It is disappointing to hear about the escalation of the stand-off between Adobe and Apple with regards to Flash, the multimedia platform that enables designers to develop rich, interactive web content. The latest episode being the news that Adobe are no longer pursuing the development of a tool that will allow Flash developers to port software into iPhone or iPad apps.
Whilst Flash is supported by many smart phones platforms, the Apple iPhone and iPad application market is clearly dominant and so any technological exclusion from this will be very frustrating for developers. Some observers have been anticipating the decline of Flash as other technologies emerge and become prevalent and compatible with evolving web standards. This development will only fuel this side of the debate.
Flash continues to be a ubiquitous and unquestionably vital tool for creating effective visualisation solutions, particularly in relation to unleashing the power of sequence and animation to a communication. It will be damaging and hugely restrictive if this ongoing conflict between these two powerful technology brands grows into a VHS/Betamax-type division.