Adobe exec defends Flash, says Mac improvements are coming

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
An Adobe executive this week defended Flash against rumored comments from Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, and also said performance improvements for the scrutinized, embattled Web platform are coming to the Mac.



Kevin Lynch, CTO with Adobe, spoke with Kara Swisher of BoomTown, and right off the bat he addressed comments rumored to have been said by Jobs. Earlier this month, numerous reports stated Jobs spoke with Apple employees at a company meeting, during which he allegedly said Adobe was "lazy," and most Mac crashes are due to Flash.



Swisher jokingly asked Lynch if he was lazy, and the Adobe official said he and his team work very hard on their company's product.



"It feels pretty busy around here, so I'm not sure what that's about," Lynch said. "And that's a rumor. I haven't heard that necessarily he did say that. But maybe he did, whatever."



He went on to say that regardless of whether Jobs said anything disparaging about Adobe, he and the company are receptive to public criticism. He said they are working to improve the Flash experience for users.



"We're totally open to hearing feedback like that," Lynch said. "And that's one of the really important things to do in a situation like this, when people are complaining about something -- not going into internal mode, or whatever, (but) really listening to what people are saying. We do that with our customers, we do that with our critics, and often there are kernels in there that we ought to do something about, and so we are."



He then revealed that Adobe is working to improve the performance of Flash on the Mac. Currently, he admitted, video renders are more processor intensive on Apple's hardware than they are on Windows machines.



Lynch also made note of Adobe's forthcoming Creative Suite 5 for Mac, which he said is "just terrific." Earlier this week, AppleInsider offered an exclusive look at the software, which will include a 64-bit version of Photoshop.



"We work with Apple all of the time," Lynch said. "We're one of the biggest Macintosh software makers around."



Apple and Adobe have had a high-profile dispute over the use of Flash on the Web since the iPhone debuted in 2007 without support for the Web format. Apple has famously shunned Flash, with the Web plugin having no support in the iPhone or iPod touch Safari browser.



Lynch said that 19 of the top 20 smartphone makers (Apple being the only one absent) have signed on to the company's Open Screen Project and its push for Flash on mobile devices. He also said that 85 percent of the top Web sites on the Internet feature Flash content.



"You can get a great experience with Flash on a smartphone," he said.







But Flash's spotty performance history on the Mac platform and processor-intensive requirements have led Apple to support alternatives such as HTML5. The Cupertino, Calif., company has even encouraged developers to "stick with standards" and use CSS, JavaScript and Ajax instead of Adobe Flash.



Lynch told Swisher that Adobe is supportive of the progression of HTML, including HTML5. This week it was said that an Adobe official was attempting to hold up advancement of the HTML5 spec, though those claims were later disputed.



"I know that there are certainly some who are working on HTML5 who are out to kill Flash," Lynch said, adding that he doesn't see the push for HTML5 as a move to "kill" Flash.



"If Flash stayed stagnant, it would certainly go away," he said. "But it's not going to stay stagnant. We're going to keep innovating."
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 205
    dluxdlux Posts: 666member
    Quote:

    He said they are working to improve the Flash experience for users...



    ...sometime in 2036.





    So what does it take? The CEO of a key customer? A shotgun to the head?



    Actually, just keep your 'improvements'. Many of us have learned to live without Flash, and feel better for it.
  • Reply 2 of 205
    blah blah..too little, much too late.



    This is just marketing spin and trying pucker to Apple and slow down HTML5.

    Sorry Adobe, you had your chance, we are moving on to software that more innovative, less resource draining and does not make my Mac act like Windows and freeze.



    Only bloody time my Mac has frozen is due to Flash!



    Soul
  • Reply 3 of 205
    I knew an ex-web developer we used to work with who did almost everything design-heavy in flash and refused to learn CSS.



    An _EX_-web developer. People are moving on. I am too. And better off for it.
  • Reply 4 of 205
    mstonemstone Posts: 11,510member
    I don't know what the fuss is about. I have Flash running on my iPhone right now.
  • Reply 5 of 205
    I went to watch the All Things D flash video in the article and it wouldnt load propperly. I think thats all I need to say about flash!



    Install ClickToFlash for Mac

    http://rentzsch.github.com/clicktoflash/



    Say goodbye to crappy flash text, crappy youtube flash videos and hidden 8 x 8 flash cookies which track you across the web.
  • Reply 6 of 205
    djrumpydjrumpy Posts: 1,116member
    Can you hear me now? Flash sucks.



    This is way to little too late. Apparently they listen, just not to Mac users. How they could possible miss the criticism over the years is beyond me. To state they they are receptive is a joke. Exactly how many adobe programmers does it take to fix their software?
  • Reply 7 of 205
    mstonemstone Posts: 11,510member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ssttuu View Post


    I went to watch the All Things D flash video in the article and it wouldnt load propperly. I think thats all I need to say about flash!



    Install ClickToFlash for Mac

    http://rentzsch.github.com/clicktoflash/



    Say goodbye to crappy flash text, crappy youtube flash videos and hidden 8 x 8 flash cookies which track you across the web.



    What a cop out. If you hate it so much just uninstall Flash. Why would you install click to Flash? Oh let me guess you might want to see something built in Flash- so just in case right?
  • Reply 8 of 205
    Flash has been the source of all my trouble on my macbook! Freezing, crashing, you name it! Why should we believe you now Adobe? You've been promising flash improvements for years!



    As much as I would love to be able to watch Hulu on my iPhone, I'd hate to have to deal with flash!



    As far as I'm concerned, the day flash dies, we'll be a little better for it. Bring on HTML5!
  • Reply 9 of 205
    I use the firefox NoScript add on and disallow all flash content anyway. And thats on my PC at work also. To many hassles.



    I wish that things like Hulu and Netflix didn't use Flash and Silverlight.



    Sites that insist on using flaky, proprietary technologies don't get my business.
  • Reply 10 of 205
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by mstone View Post


    What a cop out. If you hate it so much just uninstall Flash. Why would you install click to Flash? Oh let me guess you might want to see something built in Flash- so just in case right?



    Click to Flash also does substitution of Flash with QuickTime for some cases as well, so its not just a flash blocker. And yes, some things need flash, sad as that is, and I'd rather filter on those selectively than have all Flash load automatically and bog down my CPU.
  • Reply 11 of 205
    A case of too little, too late.
  • Reply 12 of 205
    djrumpydjrumpy Posts: 1,116member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by mstone View Post


    What a cop out. If you hate it so much just uninstall Flash. Why would you install click to Flash? Oh let me guess you might want to see something built in Flash- so just in case right?



    It's kind of like using cheap toilet paper in some public bathroom. You use it, but you don't have to like it.
  • Reply 13 of 205
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by dr_lha View Post


    Click to Flash also does substitution of Flash with QuickTime for some cases as well, so its not just a flash blocker. And yes, some things need flash, sad as that is, and I'd rather filter on those selectively than have all Flash load automatically and bog down my CPU.



    I agree, web browsing is also much snappier getting rid of all that flash crap on web sites that isn't part of the content.
  • Reply 14 of 205
    mstonemstone Posts: 11,510member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by DJRumpy View Post


    It's kind of like using cheap toilet paper in some public bathroom. You use it, but you don't have to like it.



    That's not Adobe's fault. I use Click to Flash as well because the bathroom analogy perfectly describes the problem. Flash ads! But I have Flash ads now that can't be blocked by Click to Flash and also run on iPhone so good luck with that.
  • Reply 15 of 205
    too late Adobe.
  • Reply 16 of 205
    "We're totally open to hearing feedback like that,"





    It doesn't mean they'll do anything about it. Where is the off button for flash ads? Why do I have to use third party software for that? At least put a putton on every ad, if not a global one. That's not taking feedback seriously.
  • Reply 17 of 205
    igeniusigenius Posts: 1,240member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by souliisoul View Post


    Only bloody time my Mac has frozen is due to Flash!



    That pretty much sums up my attitude towards iTunes on my Win7 quad-core notebook.



    Flash works fine. iTunes does weird stuff. I use third-party solutions whenever possible to avoid iTunes.



    Hey - Is CopyTrans available for the Mac? If so, give it a whirl.
  • Reply 18 of 205
    mcarlingmcarling Posts: 1,106member
    Flash is fecal. Bury it. Use click-to-flash. http://github.com/rentzsch/clicktoflash
  • Reply 19 of 205
    igeniusigenius Posts: 1,240member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by mstone View Post


    I don't know what the fuss is about. I have Flash running on my iPhone right now.



    Yeah? How?
  • Reply 20 of 205
    Just look at Flash on PPC Macs -- WHAT A JOKE, it runs like garbage on a G4, and has for as long as I can remember. In other words, Adobe (and Macromedia before them) NEVER optimized it for the Mac, and I have ZERO confidence in the company's ability to make it a good performer.



    YAWN. Click To Flash is my best web browser companion EVER! I cannot wait to see Flash eradicated, it has become the scourge of the web!



    Flash is like a disease or virus -- WE MUST DEFEAT IT!
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