Even from the grave, it seems Steve Jobs can still make an impact.
When the iPad launched in 2010, Jobs was heavily criticized by many for not supporting Adobe’s Flash format on the device, stripping much of the video on the Web from users browsing on the device. Well, it turns out he was onto something because Adobe has announced that it will stop supporting Flash on mobile devices after version 11.1.
This comes with an acknowledgement that HTML5 is widely adopted on mobile devices now, and that it is “the best solution” for rich content in the browser. This also means that Adobe will begin prioritizing HTML5 and work with partners like Apple, Google, Microsoft and RIM to make this work on their respective browsers and platforms.
This doesn’t necessarily mean that Flash is about to be killed for good, since they will continue to fix bugs and security holes moving forward. Flash 12 is still in the works, but Adobe has indicated that it will have developers repackage their apps within the framework of Adobe AIR.
The news was likely a bitter pill for Adobe to swallow, given how much they fought back against Jobs on the Flash dispute. At the time, they suggested Jobs was ferociously attempting to protect the cash cow that is Apple’s App Store, but based on today’s admission, it seems he may have been right all along.
Moving content from Flash to HTML5 could prove time-consuming but the market was likely headed in that direction long-term anyway, so Adobe’s backing should speed up the process even more now.
