Apple Reiterates Its Position on Flash and Tools

Not that there was much ambiguity in Apple's position on Flash and Adobe, but just in case it wasn't crystal-clear to you, read Steve Jobs' Thoughts on Flash.

My conclusions:

• Flash is doomed to a gradual decline. Apple's mobile platforms are too important for developers to ignore.
• If you want to develop iPad and iPhone apps, you're going to have to do it with Apple tools. Apple will do its best to ensure that you cannot easily build a single application and have it run on multiple mobile platforms.
• If you are creating Flash content for the web, it's time to start studying JavaScript.

There is a great opportunity here for Adobe, if they can move fast enough to take advantage of it (not their strong point): we need a great authoring tool for interactive HTML/JavaScript experiences. An evolution of the Flash authoring environment into an HTML5/JavaScript authoring environment could be the answer, and no doubt something like this is already in the works. If Adobe does this quickly, it could be a big opportunity. If not, someone else will step in.

See also:

• My previous post on this topic.
• WSJ interview with Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayan, in which he points out that Adobe's customers want tools that work with multiple environments, while Apple wants developers to focus on Apple's products. "The technology aspects are a smokescreen."
• Adobe CTO Kevin Lynch says "we have already decided to shift our focus away from Apple's iPhone and iPad devices".

Update: Adobe has begun an ad campaign and added a section to its site, with the theme We Love Choice. Pulling out its own celebrities to counter Jobs, the site includes an article titled Our thoughts on open markets by company cofounders John Warnock and Chuck Geschke.