Just in case you've missed out over the last couple of weeks, Apple and Adobe have been at each other's throats over Flash. This all started with Adobe taking exception to Apple not allowing Flash to function on the iPhone / iPad OS. Steve Jobs has repeatedly said that Flash is too resource hungry to be on a mobile device, and to be fair he does have a point. Afterall, just look at how many resources are taken up when you do anything in Flash eg watching a YouTube video.

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Steve Jobs has also gone on to champion his support of HTML5 and Javascript stating that they are more efficient and are true open standards, whereas Flash is proprietary. Also a valid point.

To the casual observer this could look like handbags at dawn, and you might not be too far off the mark. But before anyone starts passing this off as Apple being controlling, let's look at the facts.

Flash was introduced back in the 1990's as a means of providing interactive content on web pages. In itself this helped progress the internet, but Flash was and always has been a proprietary platform whether owned by Macromedia or Adobe. A couple of years ago, Microsoft attempted to rain on Flash's parade by introducing Silverlight as an alternative. A platform which I must say I've really grown quite fond of and have always been impressed by. It accomplishes what Flash tries to do without the needless resource overhead.

And then came HTML5 which opens up a lot of new possibilities to implement rich content without the need for Flash. Now I have to confess that while I've been impressed by what I've seen from HTML5 I have not done enough in depth research into HTML5 as an open standard. As events continue to unfold, many are still criticising Apple for this so called war on Flash. While I agree with many of Steve Jobs points in his open letter, perhaps the most compelling argument in favour of Steve Jobs and Apple is that Microsoft has set up their stand also in favour of HTML5 over Flash.

So that just leaves me to look at where Adobe stand. Yes it's true that they now have two huge corporations on their tail over Flash, and yes Adobe will defend Flash to the end. Let's not forget, Flash does form a large chunk of Adobe's revenue. Flash has brought a lot to the web, but it's in dire need to a re-write to make it more efficient. Perhaps Adobe could look to satisfy its' critics more.

Currently though, Adobe is stuck in the crosshairs and only time will tell if the latest developments mark the demise or re-affirmation of Flash on the internet. One thing is certain though, none of us can categorically say what will happen. Unquestionably Apple is the biggest opponent to Flash but with Microsoft in the mix as well it should make for some interesting developments over the coming months.