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Darwinian struggle as Adobe responds to Apple Flash attack

Who whines loudest wins doesn?t work anymore ? or does it? Adobe is testing the waters with a full-page ad in The Wall Street Journal newspaper and an open letter on Apple CEO Steve Jobs? opposition to Flash in a battle reminiscent of the Apple-Microsoft and Google-Microsoft tussles.

It is the ultimate irony that Adobe, which had a complete lock in the rich-media market with its Flash technology, is now threatened by a ban on its mobile use across Apple iPhone and iPad products.

For those who follow these tit-for-tat dustups, the fight for open Web standards is getting messier. Google has yet to throw in its own two cents, but the search giant is not expected to be a silent bystander if Apple decides it wants to control mobile hardware, software, content and commerce completely and thoroughly.

Mac and cheesed-off
Of course, Apple has every right to determine what runs on its products. But if its behavior starts shaping business policy that affects the overall Internet?s open experience for consumers, then that is something that needs to go beyond letters.

In other words, competitors must prove to consumers why their product deserves share of wallet over Apple?s.

So far, Apple has demonstrated with its iTunes Store, App Store, iPod, iPhone and iPad products that it gets what consumers want on mobile ? a pleasant and engaging experience on screens smaller than regular computers but with almost the same functionality and ease of use.

Apple now wants to deliver a similar ad-friendly experience through its iAd mobile ad network.

It is in mobile advertising and measurement where marketers need to be more vigilant. While it may be a force for good to some application developers and content owners, Apple?s increasingly strict requirements for advertising within its walled-garden environment may distort the market.

But it is best left to the markets and not the regulators to decide what the market wants. The cold dead hand of government in mobile advertising will have unintended consequences for all players ? advertisers, agencies, publishers and developers.

Indeed, even consumers may suffer if new regulations ban targeted advertising and lead to the proliferation of messages that just don?t resonate with the interests of the target audience.

Apple polishing
Apple can count on the continued loyalty of its customers as long as its products are a cut above the rest. Steve Jobs? letter-writing enthusiasm is as much an effort to explain directly to customers why Apple does what it does as it is to explain to business why a curated environment is safer for advertising, content and commerce.

It is a battle of two schools of thought ? curated versus free range.

The device is the battleground, so it is no surprise to see the lawsuits between Apple and Nokia, Apple and HTC and Apple and proxies over everything from screens to imbedded software.

One legal judgment here or there could affect distribution of smartphones whose sales are key to a healthy mobile advertising, marketing, content and commerce experience.

How grown-up would it be if Apple and Adobe and all the other marketers put aside their differences and worked on advertising, content, commerce and privacy standards that met the needs of consumers. But it is unlikely to happen as long as mobile is dominated by egos and not common sense.

In the meanwhile, let?s listen to Adobe cofounders and chairmen Chuck Geschke and John Warnock as they discuss open markets and the issue of choice on the Internet, wired or mobile. Here is their letter:


Our thoughts on open markets

The genius of the Internet is its almost infinite openness to innovation. New hardware. New software. New applications. New ideas. They all get their chance.

As the founders of Adobe, we believe open markets are in the best interest of developers, content owners, and consumers. Freedom of choice on the Web has unleashed an explosion of content and transformed how we work, learn, communicate, and, ultimately, express ourselves.

If the Web fragments into closed systems, if companies put content and applications behind walls, some indeed may thrive ? but their success will come at the expense of the very creativity and innovation that has made the Internet a revolutionary force.

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. 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.

When markets are open, anyone with a great idea has a chance to drive innovation and find new customers. Adobe's business philosophy is based on a premise that, in an open market, the best products will win in the end ? and the best way to compete is to create the best technology and innovate faster than your competitors.

That, certainly, was what we learned as we launched PostScript and PDF, two early and powerful software solutions that work across platforms. We openly published the specifications for both, thus inviting both use and competition. In the early days, PostScript attracted 72 clone makers, but we held onto our market leadership by out-innovating the pack. More recently, we've done the same thing with Adobe Flash technology. We publish the specifications for Flash ? meaning anyone can make their own Flash player. Yet, Adobe Flash technology remains the market leader because of the constant creativity and technical innovation of our employees.

We believe that Apple, by taking the opposite approach, has taken a step that could undermine this next chapter of the Web ? the chapter in which mobile devices outnumber computers, any individual can be a publisher, and content is accessed anywhere and at any time.

In the end, we believe the question is really this: Who controls the World Wide Web? And we believe the answer is: nobody ? and everybody, but certainly not a single company.

Chuck Geschke, John Warnock
Cofounders
Chairmen, Adobe Board of Directors


That letter, published on the Adobe Web site, brought a tart response from Apple. Here?s what an Apple spokesman told British newspaper The Daily Telegraph:

?Yes, we believe in open Web standards too, like HTML5. Flash is not an open Web standard like HTML. It is a proprietary Adobe product. Just ask the W3 consortium that controls Web standards ? they have chosen HTML5 as the open Web standard to move forward with.?

Please click here to read Apple CEO Steve Jobs? open letter on opposition to Flash.