Flash and Java on the iPhone - Similar Problems, Similar Fate

Even before the SDK beta was officially released, everyone concerned knew that it was going to be limited in several ways. We knew that Apple would act as the gatekeeper for applications that made it onto the iPhone and would restrict access to a lot of features, the thirty-pin dock connector being the prime target.

Once the SDK beta was released, the scope of the SDK became clearer as we saw a number of limitations accounted for in the accompanying documentation. Among other things, the SDK clearly stated that no third party applications would enjoy the freedom to run in the background and that “no interpreted code may be downloaded and used in an Application except for code that is interpreted and run by Apple’s Published APIs and builtin interpreter(s).”

The SDK beta was out in the wildernesses and it was clear that Apple had no intention to bring either Java or Flash to the iPhone. Both Sun and Adobe, therefore, assumed that Apple had passed the gauntlet to them. The two companies, within a week of each other, had announced that they would soon release their respective products for the iPhone with the help of the official SDK.

When Sun announced its decision to bring Java to the iPhone, there was a smattering of mixed opinions on the web. Some people wanted it on their iPhone, others didn’t. The one thing that people were unsure about was how Sun intended to do it. Given that Apple hadn’t expressed any interest in making the device Java capable and the SDK didn’t seem to allow it, potential iPhone developers were left wondering whether Sun had come to some behind-the-scenes agreement with Apple about this issue.

It turns out, however, that they hadn’t. All they’d done was follow the live blogging of Apple’s March 6 event and, on hearing that the SDK beta was being released that day, signaled their PR department to announce the impending arrival of Java on the device. Not once did they stop to think whether it would actually be possible or not. They had no clue how they would do it and yet there was Eric Klein, vice president of Java marketing for the company, making a public announcement about it.

Right on cue, and as if to ensure that no one would miss the joke, Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen announced that they were working on a Flash media player specifically for the iPhone (full article available only to paid subscribers) and would leverage the power of the SDK to bring it to the device. Apparently, he too had overlooked the limitation of “unforeseen” applications on the iPhone when Steve Jobs was announcing it onstage. Thankfully, they’d realized that it wasn’t going to be as simple as just wishing for it and had issued a retraction by the next day, along with the assurance that they still intended to have a nice chat with ol’ Jobs about this little issue.

Seriously, how hard is it to pay attention, people?

I’m not saying that we’ll never see the iPhone take advantage of these technologies (and I’m not assuming that we will either), but if there is one thing I’m sure of, it’s that Apple isn’t going to make it easy for the likes of Adobe and Sun to have their way with the iPhone. Yes, other companies come to Adobe and license Flash from them to put it onto their devices, but none of these companies have the iPhone. The roles are reversed here, with Adobe and Sun wanting a piece of their technology on one of the most prized gadgets of the twenty-first century and Apple playing hard to get.

Ever since the device’s release, there have been disappointed murmurings among the crowd of (potential) owners about its inability to play Flash content and use Java applications and games. Analysts have been predicting doom for the phone because of this fact, stating that Jobs will need to get off his high horse and bring these technologies to the iPhone one day if he wants his darling device to sell well.

But Steve Jobs seems to know exactly what he is doing. Why go to them when you can make them come to you? Flash and Java may well make their way onto the iPhone one day, but it isn’t going to be because the iPhone needs them to survive, it will be because they need the iPhone on their list of supported devices. This is business in the technology industry, a game no one has more masterly control over than the Apple CEO. It’s going to be interesting to see how things unfurl over the next few months, as the iPhone software update 2.0 approaches.