Will iPad Apps Tame the Internet?

The video that demos the new digital tablet format for “Wired” magazine scheduled for release this summer gives us great insight into the near future of the publishing industry. It reconfirms my belief that an iPad equivalent computing device will save many publishing companies and open up serious new E-Publishing market opportunities. This new delivery mechanism will justify paying for a digital subscription.

If we take a closer look at the leading development environment, Adobe Air, that is at the forefront of this revolution we get some more answers to Apple’s business strategy. It is true that Apple does not want to support Flash for Internet browsing because of performance and stability concerns. But what Apple is really doing is controlling distribution of valuable content. If Flash was supported on iPad Internet browsing then full featured content delivery could take place outside of Apple’s control. Adobe’s announcement of Flash 10.1 and Air for Mobiles in Barcelona last week is what its all about. Apple will allow rich media distribution on the iPad via Apps so that they can exert some control over the revenue stream first from the App and second from the in-app advertising and sales. And I think this may be a good thing. We may be seeing the taming of the Internet, which is probably way overdue. Maybe this is the real Web 3.0

Apple, Adobe, lets deal with this Flash Problem on the iPad

Just need to get this lack of Flash support on the iPad out on my Blog before the big game. Actually lack of Java is a concern as well. But lets focus on Flash, I have been fielding a lot of comments, questions and concerns about why the iPad may not be ready for Higher Ed prime time. The concern that appears to carry the most weight is the lack of support for Flash video content. Omitting Flash on the iPhone is one thing but leaving Flash off the iPad is more of a problem for Higher Ed. A significant justification for recommending the iPad for our University would have to be for the value of Web interaction during the learning process. Use of the iPad as an eBook reader will drive itself. An iPad having rich educational iPhone OS apps are probably more valuable on an true mobile device. But as much as we may dislike the underlying problems that Flash brings to our computers, Flash is a part many academic Web experiences. So my first call to Apple is to find a way to allow at least the well behaving Flash apps on the iPad Safari. And I also call Adobe to take serious the need to cleanup CPU inefficiencies of Flash. Don’t just wait for HTML5 to solve the problem.

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