The Apple vs. Adobe on iPhone controversy: What Now?

Apple and Adobe. My two favorite technology companies by far. I simply love them both. But there's a spat in this family, and when that happens, you don't want to alienate anyone or take sides, and make the rift bigger than it is. This is not fun for me. But I have to say something about where I think we should go from here, and it has a lot to do with perspective.

Adobe's content developers pay the bills

We developers want a "write once, run anywhere" investment of our time. (Java anyone?) The performance is a secondary concern we can get to next rev -- maybe. We can accept the compromises of a lowest common denominator of "It's good enough." Apple's App Store is a cash cow, and Adobe wants to provide a way to make them money. This is good.

Apple's content consumers pay the bills

As a consumer, I care about my personal experience on my personal device. I don't care about the developer. I don't care what phone the other guy has in his pocket. Apple has made their entire business model about the customer. When the Telcom guys were literally laughing in their face, they did the iPhone anyway, focusing on making people happy. It should be no surprise that Apple keeps control so they can fix bugs themselves, and keep the user experience as close to magic as possible. This has worked! This is very good.

Monetization makes today different!

Touchscreens, smartphones and tablets are not new. Apple has succeeded by making the experience fantastic, and setting up the monetization around making things easy. That dedication to the user experience is why Apple wasn't just another failure. The iPhone / iPod Touch user has long experienced magic. As emotional as that is, it's the key to discretional money. And let's be honest, is Android doing well because it's "open" or because many people hate AT&T? Or Apple? C'mon.....you can say it. We all know.

How does all the new Adobe technology stack up?

I have the CS5 beta, and made apps. I have downloaded other Flash apps from the App Store. I have seen the Flash Player 10.1 demos and videos. What's the seat-of-the-pants, emotional impression, after many hours of repetitive usage? It breaks my heart to write it, but....

This is definitely not magical.

My eyes and gut are constantly telling me it's a step down. It's clearly and painfully choppy. One Flash-generated app on the store has a list of buttons that is clearly NOT from a standard TableView component. It doesn't act the same, it's not tactile, it looks and feels cheap. Yet it's attempting to mimic the same thing, like a bad Elvis impersonator. Regardless of public statements from Adobe people about the great performance, it's simply not true. It's very poor.

It's not just me. I never "show off" the Flash-generated apps to my friends. These are samples of "no magic" and "I'd delete that for sure" apps. I use them for precise side-by-side comparisons. We all see the same thing. Flash gets trounced. Not exactly a rousing endorsement.

How can we move on?

Adobe, please bite the bullet and optimize with Cocoa, and embrace 64-bit on your Apple products. It's been eight years of digging in your heals on Carbon. That's long enough.

You're invited to the Apple iPhone party if you dress up! The camel nose under the tent will definitely get you thrown out. I don't care if the party next door doesn't have a dress code. I'm sorry Uncle Steve insulted you. Get dressed and he will probably give you a hug. Don't embarrass him in front of his friends.

Here's the deal. I consider my Mac and iPhone as first class citizens, which deserve a lot more than a slower second class port or middle layer. The efforts in CS5, writing for Cocoa, embracing 64-bit, have been a breath of fresh air, and you've performed masterfully. Lots of love for that! Here's a quote about Photoshop CS4 vs. CS5 on Mac:

"The lack of 64-bit support in the CS4 version of Photoshop for Mac was a major blunder by Adobe.

The addition of 64-bit support indicates that Adobe has finally decided to abandon the older Carbon-based code that CS4 and earlier versions of Photoshop were based on, and move on to Cocoa, a more modern programming platform. Adobe is already using Cocoa in Lightroom 2 and other 64-bit aware applications for the Mac." - Tom Nelson

With Photoshop CS5 seeing performance gains up to 59% with Cocoa...why is it "not needed" for Flash?

Some people in the Adobe building have figured it out. Not the Flash Player side of the building, and not the Ivory Tower. I do not understand how management at Adobe can make a stand that second class performance on a first class product is acceptable, because of all the second class products they want to support. What advantage is multi-device if all of them combined don't me make any money?

To Apple, keep producing magic, stay focused on YOUR consumer. The one who is spending their money on YOUR products. As a developer, I promise to obey the rules, make first class apps, and collect the money I wouldn't have gotten otherwise. Please deposit into this account.

Conclusion: You need Cocoa to get the magic on an Apple OS

iPhone, iPad, are great products. They are magical. They sell. We love them. Photoshop CS5 is definitely magic, it will sell, and be loved. The goal is not second class everywhere, it's first class where the money is. Adobe doesn't have to leave the building to see how true that is. Adobe is doing a lot of things right. Whats happening with Flash and Apple is not one of them.