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casperspooks
11-10-2011, 06:02 AM
Another victory for the Appleheads:

http://www.reuters.com/assets/print?aid=USTRE7A84NO20111110


By Jim Finkle (http://blogs.reuters.com/search/journalist.php?edition=us&n=jim.finkle&)
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Adobe Systems Inc halted development of its Flash Player for mobile browsers, surrendering to Apple Inc in a war over Web standards as the company surprised investors with a restructuring plan.
While the matter might seem like inside baseball for the average person, it is likely to improve the browsing experiences of tens of millions of iPhone and iPad users, who have trouble accessing sites built with Flash.
That is because Adobe's decision means Web developers who currently use Flash tools to produce Web content will likely move over to the newer HTML5 technology, which Adobe embraced on Wednesday.
Adobe's concession to Apple and its late founder Steve Jobs, who famously derided Flash as an inefficient power-hog, came as the design software specialist warned that revenue growth will slow next year.
That is because the company is scaling back development of some products and shifting toward leasing other types of software via the cloud on a subscription basis, instead of selling licenses up front.
The news, detailed Wednesday at the company's annual analyst day, sent shares in the company tumbling nearly 8 percent.
Adobe announced a restructuring plan on Tuesday that involves laying off about 7 percent of its workforce.
Adobe said revenue growth is expected to slow to 4 to 6 percent in fiscal 2012 -- below the roughly 9 percent Wall Street was projecting, on average.
The company said the revenue shortfall is partly because it plans to scale back promotion of its LiveCycle business process management software and Connect web conferencing businesses. It will stop marketing those products to most customers, though it will continue to support them.
Analysts were uncertain when Adobe's moves would deliver, despite executives saying that top line growth should return to normal in 2013.
"Shifting from a license model to a recurring model is hard," said Brigantine Advisors analyst Barbara Coffey.
"Longer-term, Adobe will be a stronger company. However, in the meantime we believe that the shares will languish until revenue growth is evident."
VICTORY FOR JOBS
Adobe's surrender signals the end of a long-running war with Apple that has overshadowed the software maker's other activities.
At one point in the battle, Steve Jobs wrote a nearly 1,700-word "manifesto," calling Flash unreliable and ill-suited for mobile devices. Adobe retaliated by taking out newspaper ads saying Jobs was just plain wrong.
Analysts say the cessation on Flash development might be a setback to rivals of Apple who tout the ability to support Flash as a reason to buy their equipment. They include Asustek Computer Inc, Google Inc, HTC Corp, Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc, Research in Motion Ltd and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd.
"It certainly changes the position a little bit for those who said that iOS products such as iPhone and iPad were disadvantaged for not supporting flash," said Michael Gartenberg, an analyst with Gartner.
While Adobe only publicly conceded on Wednesday that HTML5 has become the preferred standard for creating mobile browser content, it has long been investing in the technology.
For example, it worked with magazine publisher Conde Nast for about year developing software that allows for the use of HTML5 technology to publish digital editions of magazines, including the New Yorker and Wired.
This means any content producer can use Adobe's publishing software to build video and motion graphics suitable for the iPad, as well as most other mobile devices.
Plus, Adobe incorporated HTML5 into its popular Illustrator and Dreamweaver software programs and highlighted an HTML5 program dubbed Edge for creating animated Web content it highlighted at its analyst meeting.
The company said it plans to infuse HTML5 technology across its entire product line over the coming years, offering increasingly sophisticated tools and services to design professionals, publishers, retailers and other businesses.
David Wadhwani, head of Adobe's digital media business unit, said the company was in "close collaboration" with Apple as well as Google, Microsoft Corp and others as it developed these new products.
"There is rocket science in this," he said. "There is enough innovation here to last a decade."
He said the company would continue to invest in Flash technology for use in mobile applications that would run on devices through its Adobe AIR platform. To access those applications, a user must first install Adobe's AIR software.
It will also invest in technology to produce Flash applications for desktop computers, including ones that render 3D graphics.
Adobe shares closed down 7.7 percent at $28.08 on Nasdaq, while Apple shares were down 2.7 percent at $395.28.
(Additional reporting by Yinka Adegoke (http://blogs.reuters.com/search/journalist.php?edition=us&n=yinka.adegoke&) and Jennifer Saba (http://blogs.reuters.com/search/journalist.php?edition=us&n=saba&) in New York and Poornima Gupta (http://blogs.reuters.com/search/journalist.php?edition=us&n=poornima.gupta&) in San Francisco; editing by Edwin Chan (http://blogs.reuters.com/search/journalist.php?edition=us&n=eddie.chan&), Lisa Von Ahn, Gerald E. McCormick and Andre Grenon (http://blogs.reuters.com/search/journalist.php?edition=us&n=andre.grenon&))
(This story was corrected in the ninth paragraph to change the name of LiveCycle software)

FRR
11-10-2011, 06:28 AM
The article is mostly BS, it's the shift to HTML 5 that is the real reason for Adobe abandoning Flash development and Apple has very little to with it. It's not like Apple developed HTML 5.

casperspooks
11-10-2011, 06:42 AM
There's a lot that Apple didn't create (MP3 players) but their 800lb gorilla influence can't be denied. I doubt Flash would've been shown the exit this soon w/o it.

TonyAngelo
11-10-2011, 08:15 AM
The article is mostly BS, it's the shift to HTML 5 that is the real reason for Adobe abandoning Flash development and Apple has very little to with it. It's not like Apple developed HTML 5.

Um, Apple is the whole reason behind the shift to HTML5. Flash is dying only because of Apple's refusal to allow their mobile devices to use it and HTML5 is the only other development option available right now.

The8thst
11-10-2011, 08:21 AM
The article is mostly BS, it's the shift to HTML 5 that is the real reason for Adobe abandoning Flash development and Apple has very little to with it. It's not like Apple developed HTML 5.

Thank god I'm not the only one that can see the forest through the trees.

Oh... and as for Apple's overwhelming influence in the smart phone sector, don't forget that they only hold ~28% of the market share (http://www.dailytech.com/Android+Market+Share+Reaches+56+Percent+RIMs+Micro softs+Cut+in+Half/article22852.htm)

TonyAngelo
11-10-2011, 08:25 AM
Okay than, how about this?

If Apple had allowed their mobile devices to use Flash would Adobe be making this announcement right now?

FRR
11-10-2011, 09:24 AM
Um, Apple is the whole reason behind the shift to HTML5. Flash is dying only because of Apple's refusal to allow their mobile devices to use it and HTML5 is the only other development option available right now.

The only thing Apple did, by refusing to support Flash, was to accelerate the move to HTML5 (6 months ago, how many web sites met HTML5 standards?).

IMHO, Apple didn't have the right combination of H/W and OS to support flash without incurring significant development costs and impact to their bottom line. The position of no Flash support was easily defended when all they only had iPhones and iTouches, but it all changed when the iPad arrived. Yes, fortunately they had an out called HTML5, which had been in the works for sometime.

Don't get me wrong, I like HTML5 and what it brings to the table, but I never saw Apple leading the HTML5 bandwagon or waving the HTML5 flag. But, I could be wrong and have been before.

Steve Kaudle
11-10-2011, 09:31 AM
Okay than, how about this?

If Apple had allowed their mobile devices to use Flash would Adobe be making this announcement right now?

No.

Say what you will about Flash or more specifically Flash on a mobile device, but from a developer and/or content providers perspective, compatibility with Apple's mobile platform is a must-have.

Apple claims that they've sold >200 million iOS devices, and that was prior to the 4S launch.

So, say you're developing a web site with at least a bit of mobile friendliness in mind. You can use Flash and politely ask anyone that arrives at your doorstep via iOS to hit the road, or you can use HTML5 and let everyone in. Whatcha gonna do? Where does that leave Flash in the mobile space?

ssamsal
11-10-2011, 09:54 AM
No.

Say what you will about Flash or more specifically Flash on a mobile device, but from a developer and/or content providers perspective, compatibility with Apple's mobile platform is a must-have.

Apple claims that they've sold >200 million iOS devices, and that was prior to the 4S launch.

So, say you're developing a web site with at least a bit of mobile friendliness in mind. You can use Flash and politely ask anyone that arrives at your doorstep via iOS to hit the road, or you can use HTML5 and let everyone in. Whatcha gonna do? Where does that leave Flash in the mobile space?
It leaves them where they are. adapting their software reach, robustness and advancing technology for a bigger, more adopted for scale and richer feature set. Isn't this what every software company does? Nothing ground breaking here INHO. BTW-- it's crestrons new xpanel that runs AIR. The "flash" implementation into core 3 is a tool set implementation. There isn't any indication of being able to bring in or edit objects or run code in these objects.

Steve Kaudle
11-10-2011, 10:43 AM
It leaves them where they are. adapting their software reach, robustness and advancing technology for a bigger, more adopted for scale and richer feature set. Isn't this what every software company does? Nothing ground breaking here INHO. BTW-- it's crestrons new xpanel that runs AIR. The "flash" implementation into core 3 is a tool set implementation. There isn't any indication of being able to bring in or edit objects or run code in these objects.

I think it is at least a little ground-breaking. It wasn't all that long ago that the race was on to enable Flash on every smartphone, mobile device, and toaster oven that you could get your hands on. Apple says 'no thanks', and now it's dead.

I'm not convinced this has much effect on Crestron, save for the potential for it to be taken as an indication that Flash itself is moribund (whether or not it actually is, is another matter). At least in the short term, it changes nothing as MobilePro does not use Flash, and their Flash based toolset does not support MobilePro (yet).

ssamsal
11-10-2011, 10:52 AM
I'm not convinced this has much effect on Crestron, save for the potential for it to be taken as an indication that Flash itself is moribund (whether or not it actually is, is another matter). At least in the short term, it changes nothing as MobilePro does not use Flash, and their Flash based toolset does not support MobilePro (yet). I think it has an effect in a good way..I don't see this being a bearing on Crestron. I also don't see Core 3 toolset being flash based. I think like it's a development tool to bring in objects..it's the same (somewhat) mentality that people think the IDE for Crestron is changing. The idea behind C# is being brought in as a tool , like simple +..this is evident to me, that the tools are widening but completely under control of the existing structure..all this is good AND bad depending how you look at it :)

ssamsal
11-10-2011, 10:54 AM
The light bulbs go off for me when it is explained to me how engineering says it CAN'T allow compiled code classes in to the structure

39 Cent Stamp
11-11-2011, 11:20 AM
Flash is unstable period. Its worse on mobile devices. This is why it wasn't included with iOS 4+ years ago or today. There are modern alternatives so its time for the 16 year old platform to die.

Did Apple play a role in their decision making in terms of not supporting the mobile market? Absolutely. The other factor was the instability/resource issues.