Pic of The Day: Adobe Uses Porn To Protest Lack of Flash on iPad
4:31 pm, January 29th, 2010, Sayam Aggarwal
Adobe is so bothered by Apple excluding Flash from the iPad, it put porn up on its blog to prove the point.
Abobe’s official Flash Blog has a post entitled “The iPad provides the ultimate browsing experience?” which shows how several popular websites would look without Flash content. Right at the top is a screenshot of Bang Bros HD, a hardcore porn site.
As you can see, an iPad without Flash is going to be pretty much useless for HD porn.
“Millions of websites use Flash,” the blog post says. “Get used to the blue Legos.”
UPDATE: We checked, and there’s an MP4-based version of Bang Bros, which works fine on the iPad as is. So even Adobe’s most desperate tactic isn’t true.
Posted by Sayam Aggarwal in Apple, Apple Tablet, News, iPad | Comment on this article
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Dear Adobe folks, if you need to view porn in public, then you need some serious help.
ObamaPacman, on January 29th, 2010 at 4:39 pm
No Flash= No purchase from me. I already have a iPhone and MACBOOK, which plays flash. WTF APPLE?!?! I don]t need a GIANT iPhone/Touch. NO ONE DOES!!
Gabriel Schroeder, on January 29th, 2010 at 4:41 pm
Apple has done it again. By showing an apparent lack of flash compatibility Apple has produced very cheap advertising. This is what Apple does, and this is why their products are talked about longer and more passionately than any other. They drop small seemingly innocuous hint, people take them and blow them up, creating more press than any other company could possibly hope for. Apple knows that Adobe is upset at the lack of Flash compatibility in it’s most recent, and popular, mobile products. Apple also knows better than anyone that Adobe is scared by the precedence Apple has set. 75 million devices sold, most people don’t care that much about flash. Apple knows this and Adobe knows this, but Apple is throwing it in their faces, and it makes them furious. Steve knew that Adobe would react to the perceived lack of flash in his new device. How could they not, Steve is single handedly destroying Flash (granted it may take a while but that is what he is doing.) Adobe could not stand idly by while one of their cash cows is destroyed. Apple knew they would protect their cow. Apple knew they would retaliate, and when people and businesses retaliate they make mistakes. No matter what Adobe did they would be viewed in a bad light, Steve knew this because he knew they would not be thinking rationally about what they should do, because in the minds at Adobe they may as well be protecting a child.
xyko, on January 29th, 2010 at 4:52 pm
I must say I’m a little fascinated by this war.
I also must say that, since running any site with Flash on it causes my otherwise sturdy MacBook Pro a coronary (fans running like it’s going to fly out the window), I would not at all be sad to see Flash completely replaced.
JAYnLA, on January 29th, 2010 at 5:04 pm
Adobe should STOP giving all FUCKING Apple products support for flash instead of expecting their SHIT have it
Pedro, on January 29th, 2010 at 5:12 pm
Flash sucks, it’s a thing of the past. All it does it heat up the CPU!
Jeff, on January 29th, 2010 at 5:26 pm
Sorry to inform but that is not the official flash blog. It is a blog from a Flash Evangelist.
atduarte, on January 29th, 2010 at 5:28 pm
…who works for Adobe.
Pete Mortensen, on January 29th, 2010 at 5:32 pm
This is an old war, one that Adobe started, back in the early nineties (I think). They thought they had Apple over a barrel (hmmm, best stop that analogy right now or ya’ll be heading to that porn site). Anyhow, pay back is a b-aitch it seems.
Has to do with postscript license and pdf, followed by photoshop pressure and who knows, maybe something personal.
Avie, on January 29th, 2010 at 5:39 pm
I don’t need flash. I already have central heating…
E. Johnson, on January 29th, 2010 at 5:44 pm
Flash is a close format owned by Adobe.
HTML5 is open, and is a better option.
ObamaPacman, on January 29th, 2010 at 5:46 pm
I say good riddance to Flash. All Adobe products are bloatware, and I look forward to never having to use any of it again. Right now it’s necessary if you want to view certain things, but I’m glad Apple shot the arrow across their bow. Adobe needs to change its business model.
Batguano, on January 29th, 2010 at 5:51 pm
Yeah – HTML5 is the future – not flash. Grow up Adobe!
Niels T, on January 29th, 2010 at 6:18 pm
@ObamaPacman and the rest of you dissing the porn angle: You’re all liars, like you don’t watch porn.. You just goto pornhubs mobile site to watch it instead.
Yes it might seem silly to bring up the porn angle but 70% of porn online (which is a huge chunk of the entire internet) is basically flash based. And don’t tell me “fuck, bye bye redtube” didn’t briefly cross your mind when you heard the words “no flash”
Liars, on January 29th, 2010 at 6:24 pm
I don’t watch porn. When it was declared there was a lack of Flash I seriously and honestly thought… who cares?
Obviously a lot of people do.
As an international citizen (outside the USA) I don’t have access to Hulu. I don’t watch porn. CNN is boring an repetitive on television and Farmville might be the most irritating thing on Facebook right now (Soooo happy I discovered “Block This App”)!
In any case, the world should move to open standards and away from proprietary nonsense. That way everyone can have access to the same codecs and plugins and whatever. Imagine if DVDs or Blu-Ray could be encoded with whatever codec the manufacturer decided they liked best! What a mess that would be!
And to block all Apple products from using Flash would be stupid. That’s like forfeiting millions of customers, users, and the #1 source of Flash content production. So before you say something (else) stupid, think through your comments.
Conrad, on January 29th, 2010 at 7:10 pm
the ONLY reason there’s no flash support is that flash is a good enough programing platform, and apple wants its restrictive app store model to be the only thing its devices have access to
nabil2199, on January 29th, 2010 at 7:25 pm
Of course we should move to open standards. But that will never completely happen, my friend. Think IE6, IE7, IE8 vs. W3C standards; think HDDVD vs. BluRay; Think mp3 vs. ogg (where ogg is the opensource but mp3 is preferred).
It’s funny you mention open standards and bringing up the “what if” with DVD encoding standards. Yes, while in html5 might seem like a revolution, i can tell you where there is no encoding standard: Video on the internet.
Shall we mention a few of the formats and codecs of online video? mp4, mpeg 1 & 2, avi, mov, divx, xvid, flv, h.234, etc, etc, etc, etc….. Flash video has, wether you like it or not, been the “standard” way of delivering video online for a few years now.
So before you say something (else(Conrad)) stupid, think through your comments and do a little research.
OogaBooga, on January 29th, 2010 at 7:34 pm
Flash hurts my eyes!
Derek, on January 29th, 2010 at 7:36 pm
@Gabriel Schroeder
Um, speak for yourself. I do.
Also, why is everyone so pissed that Adobe can be proprietary, but Microsoft can’t? Adobe needs to develop it’s tools to leverage HTML 5. Done.
Ryan, on January 29th, 2010 at 7:45 pm
Too many sites are polluted with Flash adverts that slow down everything else that is running on my PC, and there is too much unnecessary use of Flash (overly complicated web apps with poor blot-to-benefit ratios).
Sad trombones for Adobe!
John, on January 29th, 2010 at 7:51 pm
Bashing Flash/Flex in favor of HTML 5 is fashionable but stupid; it’s kind of like throwing your TV in the river because you heard that any day now, Microsoft might come out with a new radio that can show moving pictures. *gasp*.
First of all: Sure lots of Flash is a waste. (Most Flex isn’t). Lots of the web is a waste, if you haven’t noticed. If you don’t want to play the games, watch the videos, or use the applications, then just uninstall it. HTML 5 has a video tag. So use your HTML 5 browser (haha) and go to all those sites that support it, and you can kiss Flash goodbye forever!
But for my money, Microsoft is going to do to Apple with HTML 5 what Apple is doing to Adobe with Flash.
By the way, have you checked whether your CPU starts heating up when you’re playing back video in HTML 5 ??? I’m guessing not.
The great thing about Flash from a developer’s POV is that it’s truly cross-browser and delivers a consistent experience. Other than Sun, Adobe is the only big company with skin in the game that doesn’t have a browser at stake, and has to be even-handed with every platform. And the Java runtime is just too clunky the way it is, so Flash is the only option right now. Apple, Microsoft, Google, all have proprietary browsers that they’re going to defend and use to stake claims to the HTML 5 standard; that’s why no one uses Silverlight, and that’s why it’s going to be years, if ever, before HTML 5 is a clean, consistent platform like Flash or Java; because the Microsoft juggernaut refuses to integrate standards into IE, while consistently and maliciously making up their own proprietary junk just to foil competing browsers. So even when a full HTML 5 implementation is rolled out for IE it’s going to include a lot of garbage that’s going to mean developers will have to build sites twice or three times, instead of once. And then we’ll start seeing proprietary libraries built on different browser platforms that function poorly in IE and we’ll be spending days plowing through Microsoft documentation to figure out why the **** some class doesn’t work and what the workaround is.
The alternative to Adobe’s proprietary system is not Apple’s; it’s Microsoft’s. I’ve used Flash a lot since the Macromedia days, and I’m not a big fan of Adobe, but at least they seem capable of innovation and of working with developers; Microsoft does not care, and if it had no competition from Apple, the world would still be running Windows 3. This is not about Adobe v. Apple, this is about Microsoft having total control over web standards.
Personally, I don’t care who does the next major ES3/4 implementation, I just care that it runs the same everywhere. Until Microsoft agrees to stop hitting below the belt, I don’t think any browser-dependent platform is going to fill that niche… and I’m glad Flex/Flash is around, because for many serious applications there’s just no equivalent out there right now.
I know that my clients won’t be buying an iPad because their logistics and reporting frontend is in AS3 (Flex). They’re already running it on Android =)
Josh Strike, on January 30th, 2010 at 12:27 am
Hello my name is No one. I need a GIANT iPhone/Touch and i will buy it. With or without Flash.
No One, on January 30th, 2010 at 12:39 am
Also, looks like Apple may run afoul of some federal laws on this one…
http://www.pcworld.com/article/188185/apples_ipad_and_the_flash_clash.html
Josh Strike, on January 30th, 2010 at 1:09 am
Porn is the only “good” use of Flash. Adobe is right in that regard.
adobebloatware, on January 30th, 2010 at 2:45 am
I think Apple’s sending out people like the guy above to badmouth Flash. The bottom line is WE NEED A CROSS-PLATFORM TECHNOLOGY for heavy app coding in browsers. Java is just dead; so Flash is it. If Apple wants to write a better one, I’ll use it. But I can’t publish Objective C code to 99% of browsers around the world, and HTML5 is years from being a viable alternative. So either you don’t know what you’re talking about, or you’re being paid to write this BS.
Josh Strike, on January 30th, 2010 at 2:54 am
Adobe reps are admittedly posting on this forum (in defense of Adobe)? No wonder. It wouldn’t be a surprise that a handful of (paid) Adobe supporters are dropping by to demonize Apple in the various posts here.
matthewserra, on January 30th, 2010 at 3:15 am
I wouldn’t be surprised if there were paid people on both sides, but this is ridiculous. If we have to drop every platform we develop on because one company or another decides to prevent it from being used on their systems, we’d run out of options pretty quick… and I’m not seeing Apple and Microsoft getting together to release HTML5 or any cross-platform alternative to Flash on any kind of timeline that would give me a date for work in progress. So what do I tell clients? You should wait 2-3 years on this until the committees finally hash out the HTML5 specs? In our cycle there’s no way we’re bailing on Flash until there’s a better option; if I have to advise clients that their app won’t work on the iPad, well, that sucks, but then they probably wouldn’t be buying these things for their employees anyway.
Josh Strike, on January 30th, 2010 at 3:51 am
By the way, I am in no way affiliated with Adobe. But Flash & Flex work is my life and I can’t imagine trying to build the apps I’ve done without it, with nothing but the current fractured state of the DOM. If Microsoft backs the canvas and we see some motion on the HTML5 specs then I’ll follow the money. ‘Til then, ditching flash for an amorphous utopian open-source pipe dream is not a viable way to make a living, nor to deliver the content and logic the clients need. It’s odd to find myself in the position of Adobe evangelist, because I’m not; I thought they made a lot of mistakes after buying the line from Macromedia, and I’ve said so for years. But I think Apple’s approach on this, to not support something so widely used and so very useful, is irrational and willfully destructive as long as they’re not offering any kind of replacement.
Josh Strike, on January 30th, 2010 at 4:01 am
Boycot sites that require flash to use them, BTW, do you really want all that CPU power eaten up by flash if it was on iPhone and iPad? Much less bandwidth used by ads too without it.
John, on January 30th, 2010 at 5:12 am
The alternative for Flash developers on these devices is not browser based but rather to build native Apps. The UIKit API is potentially as simple to learn as Flash is at its deeper levels. For me browser based apps have had their day, the better user interface of native Cocoa Touch apps on the iPhone points in a completely new direction for software on iPhones and iPads with a smoother and tactile user experience. Very few Flash apps other than some exemplary portfolio pieces for creatives add much to the sum total of human culture.
Apple has given developers a couple of years to build both a market and the skills to add immense innovation and variety to their touch devices. If Flash had been in place from the beginning, there would have been less incentive for developers to learn native development on the devices (and hence the more consistent user experience that makes the iPhone so successful).
Paul, on January 30th, 2010 at 12:10 pm
No Flash is actually a selling point for me. 90% of all those annoying ad’s are done in Flash. I can live without them.
MMNW, on January 30th, 2010 at 1:54 pm
Why not have Flash on the machine, and give the user the ability to turn it off? Why would anyone buy a machine that was locked and/or specifically prohibited from running ANY piece of software you wanted to install on it?
Would you defend any other company that put out a product like that?
Josh Strike, on January 30th, 2010 at 2:19 pm
Adobe has certainly set their sights low here. “You can’t watch porn videos on an ipad!” Who is in charge of that company, Semore Butts? Not a very classy move by them. #Adobefail…
Ictus75, on January 30th, 2010 at 3:02 pm
So Adobe is backing the Porn site Bang Bus?
Or is Adobe just a general backer of flash based Pron on the web?
I’m confused.
Gil, on January 30th, 2010 at 7:34 pm
I don’t care about Flash, but I’m very impressed to see that the dedicated folk at CoM are willing to go the extra mile and check hardcore porn sites for MP4 compatibility! So, anything that took your interest there?
David S., on January 30th, 2010 at 10:03 pm
@Liar,
Sorry, ever heard of DVD and Blu-Ray? Yes it can be converted to a computer friendly format such as MP4.
Perhaps people get them in avi or mkv besides mp4?
ObamaPacman, on January 30th, 2010 at 10:18 pm
“Boycot sites that require flash to use them, BTW, do you really want all that CPU power eaten up by flash if it was on iPhone and iPad?”
boycotts rarely work. rather than a boycott, you should ask people to support and be patrons of websites that embrace html5.
Bubbahotep, on January 31st, 2010 at 5:43 am