I always thought Flash died because Apple didn't want people to be able to write and execute arbitrary code in an app on their phones. That it posed a security risk, a stability risk, and potentially a business risk (as it could allow people to circumvent the limitations they'd imposed on, say, distribution and payments). Is that wrong?
Yes, it is wrong. Mostly. Or just some minor reason.
It was largely a fallacy perpetuated by Apple. The same fallacy used to more recently justify the app store exclusivity, aimed at preserving their enclosed ecosystem under the guise of protecting users from potential malware threats.
While it's true that Flash posed security risks, not just on mobile but across platforms. Acrobat pdf readers continue to grapple with high-severity CVEs.
Another argument against Flash support on the iPhone was its purported battery drain. It's worth considering the technological landscape of that era: Arm processors were less power-efficient, and early iPhones struggled with battery longevity. Remember, even basic color screen phones could last several days on a single charge—illustrated by the enduring appeal of the Nokia 3210, which could comfortably endure a week without needing to be plugged in.
Yes flash early implementation for mobile was very inefficient.
Yes Apple had valid reasons for resisting Flash support. However, at the heart of the matter was Adobe's lion stance on royalties, a proposition deemed cocky by Jobs. Plus jobs was in the money Business. So the moot negociation red eventually led to a declaration war on Adobe.
Despite Adobe's towering market cap, and arguable more influential in the tech spheres, they underestimated Apple's strategic timing and their ability to a big push for new web standards, which ultimately led to the widespread adoption of HTML. Adobe's defeat to maintain their spotlight animation authoring tool for the web. Cousin comment touches on its disrespect for existing web standards, it never evolved to embrace the browser, it kept running as its own thing with limited to no interfacing with the browser API even.
This conflict not only signed the future death certificates of Flash but also spelled the end for other authoring tools which came from the Macromedia umbrella, and those had already begun to lose relevance post-Adobe acquisition.
Adobe's numerous acquisitions, it's easier to enumerate the surviving applications since the launch of the iPhone than to list those consigned to oblivion.
Not exhaustive, but here is the gist:
Adobe applications that have ceased to exist since 2006:
Adobe mainstream products that have ceased to exist since 2006:
- Flash
- Fireworks
- Dreamweaver (on life support)
- GoLive
- Muse
- Encore
- Contribute
- SpeedGrade
- Story
- Edge Animate
- Edge Reflow
Adobe mainstream products that remain plus those created or aquired since 2006:
- Photoshop
- Illustrator
- InDesign
- Premiere Pro
- After Effects
- Acrobat
- XD
- Audition
- Figma
> It was largely a fallacy perpetuated by Apple. The same fallacy used to more recently justify the app store exclusivity, aimed at preserving their enclosed ecosystem under the guise of protecting users from potential malware threats.
