Adobe's failure

Out of context: Reply #13

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  • stewdio0

    Putting the whole Apple-Flash argument aside (and really Flash is just one product in Adobe's arsenal, and one of their more recent acquirements at that) I think Adobe did make a large mistake. It's a subtle one, but I think with far reaching implications : THEY DID NOT PRODUCE A BROWSER.

    I'm surprised there's not more talk about this. Apple did it. Google did it. Even Amazon did it. (You'll see what I mean about Amazon in just a moment.) It used to be that a browser was just a free piece of software. But now in 2010 that free piece of software is a stepping stone to an expensive piece of hardware. In a sense an iPhone is not iOS, it's Apple's browsers (Safari and iTunes) in a physical form factor. Android is sort of a physical Chrome if you will. And Amazon's physi-fied browser is the Kindle. Browsers are middlemen; they intercept the content you're trying to access and they display it a certain way. And because of the market created by the Microsoft / Netscape war, browsers are free software. But put that browser in a mobile device and suddenly that middleman is a real money maker.

    If Adobe had released a young buggy browser 5 years ago, then incrementally improved it until it had a proper fit and finish they would now have even greater leverage on the digital creative industry than they already do. "Does Apple claim that our Flash plugin crashes Safari? Well just use our browser where Flash is baked right in." It wouldn't make direct money, but it would please users—users that created something using an Adobe product and then would be happy to view it in an Adobe product as well. And if they expanded that browser into a console OS (where it would make direct money) they could now say "Are you upset that the iPad doesn't render Flash? Just purchase our handheld device which runs on Flash OS and will properly render all your Flash content." Perhaps then Apple would be forced to add Flash to the iPhone / iPad. (Although the problem seems to be that Flash as it stands just won't operate smoothly or efficiently on a mobile hardware so that kind of kill's it, yea?)

    Google was concerned about users being able to experience their rich web apps properly so they created their own browser to ensure that there was a way to experience Google on Google's terms. They're controlling their channel. Adobe should have taken notes on this. Why rely on the good faith of Apple, Google, MS, etc when they can just release their own browser and control their channel? Experience Adobe on Adobe's terms. Then create a physical version of their browser and force the mobile device market to compete with their killer feature: built-in Flash. I suppose the answer is they're too comfortable with the continued success of Photoshop / CS.

    stewdio 0Permalink
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