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Adobe Calls Out Apple With Ads In NY Times, WSJ

Hugh Pickens writes "Businessweek reports that Adobe has taken out newspaper advertisements in the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times today and posted an open letter to call out the tablet-computer maker for stifling competition. 'We believe that consumers should be able to freely access their favorite content and applications, regardless of what computer they have, what browser they like, or what device suits their needs,' the letter states. 'No company — no matter how big or how creative — should dictate what you can create, how you create it, or what you can experience on the web.' The letter is part of a widening rift between Apple and Adobe. Two weeks ago, Apple Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs wrote a 29-paragraph public missive panning Adobe's Flash as having 'major technical drawbacks.' US antitrust enforcers also may investigate Apple following a complaint from Adobe, people familiar with the matter said this month. Adobe has also launched a banner ad campaign to let you know that they love Apple. The two-piece banner ads are composed of a 720x90-pixel 'We [heart] Apple' design, followed by a 300x250-pixel medium rectangle that reads: 'What we don't love is anybody taking away your freedom to choose what you create, how you create it, and what you experience on the web.'"

16 of 731 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Can't run Java on iPhone either... by sbeckstead · · Score: 0, Troll

    You obviously weren't around for the IE vs Netscape wars. When MS would release updates to the OS that caused any browser but IE to crash on launch.

  2. Re:The choice is Apple's to make by jedidiah · · Score: 0, Troll

    Steve Jobs is just the new Bill Gates.

    Steve doesn't really have to ban Flash. His end goals will still be achieved by allowing some
    illusion of freedom. As others have said, merely allowing Flash to run in the iThings will not
    make them run well or magically appear. Steve will still have the upper hand.

    He simply doesn't have to be a jerk.

    Steve Jobs doesn't need to be a jerk, he just chooses to be. He thinks he can get away with it
    and plenty of fanboys seem to be intent on proving him right.

    This whole "interest for ease" seems to me more about limiting the devices and then trying
    to convince you that crippled is what you really want and that you don't really want to do
    all of those other things.

    --
    A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
  3. Re:Can't run Java on iPhone either... by StylusEater · · Score: 0, Troll

    No one is forcing you to buy their product. Why does it matter if they lock others out? As long as they don't have a monopoly like the company you cited...who cares...

  4. Re:New corporate slogan by jedidiah · · Score: 1, Troll

    The fanboy has his blinders on so tight that he looks like he's about to pass out from lack of oxygen going to his brain.

    Is there an app for that?

    --
    A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
  5. What?!?!? by quantumplacet · · Score: 0, Troll

    From TFA:

    Flash runs on more than 800 million mobile phones, manufactured by all the top 20 handset makers except Apple.

    As far as I know, Flash runs on zero million phones right now. FlashLite runs on a few, but certainly not 800 million.

  6. Re:Right on Adobe! by Lumpy · · Score: 1, Troll

    Yup.

    Plus they choose to ignore.. iPhone sales have doubled in the past year.
    Over 1 million ipads sold in the past 45 days.

    The apple haters simply plug their ears and scream.... LA..LA...LA...LA.... I CANT HEAR YOU!

    --
    Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
  7. Re:We Want to by je+ne+sais+quoi · · Score: 1, Troll

    Or view material from pulitizer prize winning journalists.

    Ummm.. hey dude, safari works just fine on the ipod/iphone/ipad and you can use it to read any prize winning journalist that you have legal (and even illegal) access to. E.g., just navigate to here, find the author you want and look it up on google. It's really not that hard.

    In any case, you don't need flash and you only need one app. Adobe can suck it, flash sucks on anything but windows and I for one, am sick and tired of not having flash apps load properly and/or slow my system to a crawl. Ever since it was invented, people on slashdot have been complaining about sites that rely on flash to show their content, but now that Apple has banned it all according to you, being forced into using Adobe products to view the web is "being allowed to use your device anyway you want"? Are you nuts? You are being played by Adobe and they're waging their PR campaign not for your freedom like they say, but to preserve their profit and control of the world wide web.

    --
    Gentlemen! You can't fight in here, this is the war room!
  8. Re:Oh Shiznacho! by KlomDark · · Score: 1, Troll

    It's on like Ndamakong!! (Suh)

  9. Damn those Adobe bastards! by Xaedalus · · Score: 0, Troll

    How dare they write code that willingly compromises my computer! And then tell me that they're somehow enabling my freedom to be molested by Chinese/Eurotrash scriptkiddies! I'll go down to Fremont this afternoon and shit on their parking lot in response.

    --
    Here's to hot beer, cold women, and Glaswegian kisses for all.
  10. Re:Right on Adobe! by BasilBrush · · Score: 1, Troll

    They are just being assholes to developers and to third party companies.

    To that small subset of developers who want to develop in Flash (or similar) maybe. But the majority are perfectly happy to use the native ObjC/Cocoa Touch platform.
    More importantly they are benefiting end users, who will find theApp Store less polluted with shitty apps.

  11. Re:We Want to by catmistake · · Score: 0, Troll

    Why is that Adobe's fault that the Yahoo! ad service allowed an insecure Flash ad be published to their network?

    For the same reason it's Microsoft's fault for allowing virus to run on their operating system. Windows could be designed in a way that virus' protection was built in and transparent, or with such a security structure that virus infection became impossible (except for the most determined users), but it's too late, it's now a profitable industry. Microsoft will never fix Windows now. If Adobe got what they wanted, there would be a flash security industry to follow. Alll you flashophiles would be trading opinions on the flash forums about which flash antivirus was the best and why. Fuck that. I just wanted to watch a video. I can do that without flash? OMG, why didn't you say so! Why are we still talking about this?

  12. Re:Right on Adobe! by Wovel · · Score: 0, Troll

    They also distribute free apps without cost to developers and all developers can send out all the free updates for their apps they want. I suppose they do take their 30% of Free too.

  13. Re:Right on Adobe! by pizzach · · Score: 1, Troll

    You basically pointed out that the iPhone is not commodity hardware and that Apple is taking the console type sales route. Thank you captain obvious who ignores any and all benefits some people get over other systems.

    --
    Once you start despising the jerks, you become one.
  14. Re:The choice is Apple's to make by elrous0 · · Score: 0, Troll

    Apple wouldn't be the lesser of two evils if you were comparing them with Hitler.

    --
    SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
  15. Re:Right on Adobe! by node+3 · · Score: 1, Troll

    Very true. Look at how Apple fleeces the iPhone users:

    1) Profit on selling the device itself (either unlocked to consumer or to AT&T)

    As opposed to HTC, Motorola, RIM, etc., who sell their products at a loss? How do you suppose they make money? Volume?

    2) A nice MONTHLY cut of around $18 from AT&T from the subscribers min. of $70/month. (This is the real reason iPhone is exclusive to AT&T inspite of shitty service all around, notice how this isn't mentioned much here on /.?).

    Unsure how this fleeces the users. AT&T pays this to keep exclusivity (assuming the contract is still the same). If they didn't pay this, it's highly unlikely they'd lower the rate for iPhone users by $18.

    3) A FORCED 30% cut of all third party software sales for the iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad.

    No one is forced to do anything. Apple does take 30% for paid iPhone apps, but this pretty much covers the running of the store, including things like credit card transaction fees, bandwidth, servers, admins, and so on. Apple does not make a significant profit from the iTunes Store or the App Store. And again, hard to see how this fleeces the users.

    No wonder Apple is wallowing in money, they found an almost perfect way to part fools with their money.

    Of course, because the only person who would buy an iPhone is a fool? Because AT&T are fools for paying for exclusivity? Because developers are fools for voluntarily paying for Apple to provide a service?

    There is a fool in this equation, all right, but from the sounds of it, it doesn't seem likely that you've sent any money to Apple.

  16. Re:Right on Adobe! by node+3 · · Score: 0, Troll

    And Apple is doing that out of the good of their heart for free app developers who should be forever indebted to Apple for not charging for their free apps.

    Who said anything like that?

    Not.

    Oh, I see. It was a straw man.

    They do that so that the iPhone becomes attractive to users(because of free apps available) so that the users can be charged as per my #1, #2 and #3 in my post above.

    In other words, they do it because serving the customer's needs and wants helps them make money later. The monsters!

    4) Take $99 from every iPhone developer that submits to Apps store (even those who develop and distribute Apps for free, thus making the iDevices more attractive).

    Developer tools don't write themselves, don't provide technical support for themselves, and don't host and provide bandwidth for themselves.