Apple vs. Adobe ... The Winner?

Ninetyeight percent of desktop and laptop computers including Macs can run Flash video and other Flash apps Most modern Web 20ish multimedia sites incorporate some kind of Flash programming Even though this is a fact Apple has decided to make it almost impossible to display Flash video and apps on their iPhone iPod Touch and new iPad devices You can Google the details of the fight they are interesting but the details are not the overarching issueGive 39em the razors sell 39em the blades It sounds so simple It is Apple39s model is unique They are a hardware company that gives away free software to enhance the value of their device But as you well know they do much more They have created a toolset that empowers thousands of thirdparty developers to help them sell their products But and it39s a big but they have not created an open platform it is quite closedI am fascinated by the rhetoric in the blogosphere about open vs closed platforms Apple has the absolute right to limit prohibit edit fix or otherwise augment anything that thirdparty developers create under the terms of their software development agreement This is their ecosystem to use a very overused term not oursThe simple argument for Apple39s position is that unlike open platforms apps developed under their strict guidance will have the highest level of quality control and offer the best user experienceCut away the selfishness shrouded in altruism and you find a company that earns only eight percent of the hardware dollars in their industry but earns 25 percent of the profits The Apple model works for Apple that39s how it was designedThe problem that the Adobe vs Apple war brings into focus is the murky and unfortunate future of connected devices If you look at the spirit of the FCC39s new 100 squared plan the name they have given the commission39s recommendation to Congress for the National Broadband Plan you can imagine a future where there are only two kinds of devices connected and notconnected This imagined future has nothing to do with the Internet Net Neutrality or private ecosystems It is a world where you can buy any device and it will either connect or it won39tIf you buy a digital toaster or a lawnmower or a garage door opener or a mobile device or an app phone or a car it will either connect or it won39t Awesome Sadly Adobe39s decision to quotgive upquot trying to interoperate with Apple throws a pail of ice water on a universally connected future It demonstrates in a very specific way why we will never live in a truly connected worldThe magic of television is that it is a national standard If you buy a television set it will tune in television signals This is true no matter where you live Free overtheair cable or satellite images will all display within a baseline of quality parameters for everyone everywhereInternet Television online video websites IPbased content not so muchIf you don39t think this is a problem consider this There are about a billion PC39s in the world and about four billion mobile devices This number will grow Sociologically media consumers that39s you and me have demonstrated a new behavior over the past year that I like to call quotbest available screenquot Simply people will watch any length content on the best screen available If you can39t watch Star Trek in a movie theater or on the 60quot flat screen in your living room you will be quite happy to watch the entire movie on your laptop or even your mobile phone people are now more than willing to watch any length content on the best screen availableThis is in stark contrast to the behavior that I used to call the proportional screen law where people watched short content on small screens and longer content on bigger screens 23 minute clips on a cell phone amp189 hour and 1 hour shows on the television sets and theatrical motion pictures in theatersThe best available screen behavior is a paradigm shift and as a society we will never look backWhat does it say about our connected future that we can39t experience more than half the online video content on iPhones iPads or other Apple devices Apple won39t budge Adobe is powerless and has given up Not the outcome consumers were hoping forI can easily argue both sides of the AdobeApple war and my question is as I said purely rhetorical The answer is that we are about to enter a trifurcated world It will have three competing models Apple Microsoft and GoogleApple will sell hardware give you tons of free software and lock you into their ecosystem Microsoft will sell you software and won39t care what you run it on and Google will give you everything for free and sell advertising to support itAs for our connected future The winner in the AppleAdobe war is Apple The loser is not Adobe they are going to do just fine The loser is our interoperable connected future sad but completely understandableShelly Palmer is the host of MediaBytes with Shelly Palmer a daily show featuring news you can use about technology media ampamp entertainment He is the author of Television Disrupted The Transition from Network to Networked TV 2008 New York House Press and the upcoming Get Digital Reinventing Yourself and Your Career for the 21st Century Economy 2009 Lake House Press Shelly is also President of the National Academy of Television Arts ampamp Sciences NY the organization that bestows the coveted Emmy Awards For information about Get Digital Classes visit httpwwwshellypalmercomseminars Watch Digital Life with Shelly Palmer Tuesdays at 10p ET on WNBC39s NY Nonstop httpwwwshellypalmercomdigitallifeRead all Shelly39s MediaBizBloggers commentaries at Shelly Palmer MediaBizBloggersFollow our Twitter updates MediaBizBlogger

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Apple vs. Adobe ... The Winner?

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