Just like that, Steve Jobs puts the final nail in Flash’s coffin on the iPhone.  While I respect Apple’s reasoning, it is still terribly frustrating to know that in the end someone is going to be the gatekeeper. Kudos for saving battery life, but why not make a hybrid where people can make their own apps and put them on their own phone, just not submit them to the app store?  If I willingly want to axe my battery life by using a sub-par language, why shouldn’t I be able to on my own device?

Oh, look! More Kool-aid, maybe just one sip …

This is out of control.

Like two lovers who have had a host of squabbles behind closed doors and a few out in public or a pair of cities separated by a river, two of my favorite creative companies are at war. iMudslinging has begun from key supporters in the Adobe side, almost surely forcing Apple’s hand to now nearly entirely shut down the ability for folks like myself to make cool iApps by using AS3.  Yes, I know that it’s a bizarre mutant hybrid language that runs on a platform that isn’t specifically optimized for … well most browsers, phones, etc … but it’s still a valid language that has grown leaps and bounds over the years to something that is quite stunning.  That is of course to say when it’s used for good, not evil.

Flash is New Jersey, really; they can’t call the shots, but they own a HUGE piece of the creative pie.  It had roots in toxic waste, still has some seedy parts to it, but there are a slew of amazing things that have been done via Flash that have advanced the web.

I’ve been working up a couple apps of my own and am sorely disappointed by how this is shaking out.  First, because I’d rather not add Objective C to my list of languages … I’ve got too many things banging around upstairs right now to manage one more.  CS5 was going to be stellar, for me and my own “I bet I could …” mad scientist experiments.  Secondly, I’m upset by the initial response from the Flash community.  Yes, we’re being strong-handed by Apple who is pushing for their own standards and perhaps feels slighted for not being in on previous Adobe love, but if there’s one thing that will not help is thrashing the hell of out an individual or organization who at some point we’d like to work with again.  I speak for myself, not the entire Flash community when I say, “I’d very much like to develop QUALITY apps for the iDevices with a language I know inside and out.” It’s unfortunate that this war has exploded in the 11th hour … essentially just mere days before Adobe’s launch of CS5.  Tomorrow will be interesting, as will the next few days.  Hopefully, the big boys can have a sit-down in some back room over some espresso and maybe a pork sammich and work this thing out.  Perhaps the Big Apple can coexist with Jersey, or perhaps I’ll pick up another trade; welding would be fun to do again.