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Mike Chambers, Flash and Adobe PR
The other day, I linked to a blog post by Adobe’s Mike Chambers, in which he let loose concerning the company’s recent announcement about killing off mobile Flash.
I’ve been thinking about Chambers’ blog post all weekend for several reasons.
After listing off his history with Flash, Chambers re-caps the company’s announcements. After that, he writes:
It is this last point which received the most attention, caused the most confusion, and essentially overshadowed all of the other information. Given the very public recent history of the Flash Player on devices this was understandable. However, it is clear that we did not do a good job of communicating why we are are making this shift in strategy. I know how frustrating this has been for the Flash community, and for that I want to apologize. Our goal was to be very clear about WHAT we were doing, but in doing so, we didn’t pay enough attention to explaining WHY we were doing it.
Guns Ablazin’
Mike Chambers, a lead product manager for Flash, via Engadget:
This one should be pretty apparent, but given the fragmentation of the mobile market, and the fact that one of the leading mobile platforms (Apple’s iOS) was not going to allow the Flash Player in the browser, the Flash Player was not on track to reach anywhere near the ubiquity of the Flash Player on desktops… Just to be very clear on this. No matter what we did, the Flash Player was not going to be available on Apple’s iOS anytime in the foreseeable future.
OTA
Just to add to yesterday’s post: this morning, I updated 37 iPads from iOS 5 to iOS 5.0.1 in less than two hours. I set them out on a table and walked down the line hitting “update” on each, then walked away.
ICS Can Be Unlocked via Photo
I know Google likes Android to be thought of as open, but come on…
‘Reconstituted Pork Offal Slurry’
On Selling Android Tablets
There are tons of implications to Adobe dropping future mobile development of the Flash plug-in, but one of the most immediate is for those whose job it is to market and sell Android tablets.
With tablets, though, Flash compatibility (poor performance notwithstanding) had been a key selling point for those looking to take on the iPad. It was a major component in ads from Toshiba, Research In Motion, Motorola and others looking to grab a piece of the tablet market.
Logitech PWND by Google TV
CEO Guerrino De Luca, via The Vergr:
To make the long story short, we thought we had invented [sliced] bread and we just made them. [We made a commitment to] just build a lot because we expected everybody to line up for Christmas and buy these boxes [at] $300 […] that was a big mistake.
The company lost $100 million on the set-top box.
On Hong Kong and the iPhone 4S
We mentioned in passing that the iPhone 4S had sold out in ten minutes at the Hong Kong Apple Store, but given these pictures that have been posted online since, a statement like that doesn’t really do the launch justice. That place looks like a madhouse – thousands of people lined up to buy Apple’s new iPhone, and the police were out in force with barricades and dogs to make sure everything went smoothly. Black market salesmen were buying and selling iPhones outside the store, apparently, and leaving the queue got your picture taken and your number checked. There were even “professional queuers,” low income workers that were paid to simply stand in line and buy the phone when it became available.
OS X Lion Certifications Live
I guess it is time for me to update my ACSP.
Even if you don’t take the exam, the Peachpit book is a great resource to keep handy.
Apple Storefronts
Thomas Park has put together a website showing every single Apple Store. While most of Apple’s stores look pretty similar, it’s nice to easily see some of the more wild ones.
Saddle Creek — Store 011 — is my old stomping ground.