WTHNF?! (What The Heck No Flash?!)
I’ve been thinking about the Apple v. Flash issue for a bit now and I have come to a conclusion that is not easy. I’ve been a Mac guy for over a decade (I was a Mac guy PRE OSX), I LOVE how Apple’s OS works and the great features they provide. I love the look of my Apple MacBook, how compact it is, the 8 HOUR BATTERY. I’ve never owned a computer that has made my job easier, made me more efficient, and overall has been my tool of choice for design since college.
But unless Apple lifts the ban on Flash developing I will be moving to a Windows 7 PC platform on the next computer upgrade, and I’ll be inviting other interactive designers to do the same. In fact I don’t think I’ll have to do much convincing…over 10,000 designers have joined the “I’m with Adobe” site on FB (it’s only been open for a week), and TONS of designers and developers are voicing the same opinion all across the blogosphere. In fact, many of the execs at Adobe are beginning to post images and lists of their new ‘Mac free’ design setups, that are cheaper and better (that was hard to say) than the Macs they used to run. I can completely understand Jobs not liking Flash or any other development tool, but to not support it and then COMPLETELY BAN it’s use on the new Apple SDK is ridiculous. Flash (love it or hate it) is THE MOST widely used tool to develop applications and interactive content for the web and for Apple to exclude it’s use is a huge set back for web development as a whole.
I hope Apple gets it straight (because I LOVE using Apple products) or else they’re going to successfully isolate the same demographic that allowed them to bounce back from the financial disaster of a company they were in the ’90′s.