Hi Apple,

I’d like to talk to you today about your decision to not support Flash.

We get that you’ve spurred lots of innovation over the years, but your image has taken some serious hits lately what with the anti-porn defense for the app store, violent search warrants, and factory worker suicides.  You were the bad boy on the block, eschewing our perceptions of  lifeless corporate routine by shaking things up and well, thinking different. But now, you’ve missed the mark by telling us what to think and tarnished that grand image you’ve cultivated over all these years.

I’ve no problem with your decision to not support Flash. You’ve given us one of the best operating systems on the planet and we thank you for it and it’s your decision as to what technology you wish to employ on your devices. However, what I do have a problem with is the manner in which you’ve chosen to justify that decision. Beating up on another company’s technology, especially one with such a rich history of supporting your products is kind of a dick move.

In fact, it’s starting to look like you’ve gotten a little too big for your turtleneck. Innovation needn’t be fueled by slanderous undermining. As new technologies emerge, their efficiency will propel their adoption just fine, without the need for browbeating their predecessors. Much in the same way the advantages of digital distribution became apparent over traditional media, so too will web developers latch on to the next means of producing dynamic web content, leaving Flash to gracefully join the likes of 10baset networks and vb6.

You know we love you Apple, and we want others to see what made you so special in the first place, but as it stands today we need you to go back to being the hammer- not the telescreen.

Sincerely,
Joshua