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Apple Has Its Head in the Clouds

The way we interact with our computing devices is changing. They’re becoming simplified, more natural. Where are the clouds? They’re in the sky, naturally. Where are my photos? They’re in the Photo App. On our iPhones we don’t drag and drop a photo into the Photo App. The photo files are all automatically sent to the Photo App as soon a we snap a picture. Where are those files located on my iPhone’s hard drive anyway? Who cares… I just need to easily be able to look at them, email them to my friends, or post them to Facebook.

How we interact with our content’s actual file is changing. Apple’s iPhone and iPad OS is responsible for this calculated shift. Take music. Say you want to listen to a particular song. You open the iPod App, which connects to the music database. There’s no tape, no cd, and no .mp3 file to find. Just LCD Sound System’s “All I Want”. Why confuse the casual computer user with file extensions, file icons, and even the slightest question of which application to use for a specific file? The file part of this user experience has been hidden from the user, on purpose. The iPhone isn’t file oriented, it’s task oriented. People relate more to tasks than a files. Therefore, Apple promotes the app over the file. “There’s an app for that!”

Nobody is more in-touch with the idea of making technology seem more simple, human, and natural than Apple. Look no further than a comparison of the iPhone ads to the Droid ads. Apple uses human hands, while Motorola uses robot fingers in its advertisement. Which technique do you relate to?

You may have noticed the little feud between Apple and Adobe lately. This public argument isn’t helping either company’s image. Between this and Steve Jobs’s dictator-like reaction to the the whole lost prototype iPhone incident, Apple’s image is taking a bit of a hit. You know it’s bad when the Daily Show, whose target audience is Starbucks sippin’ Mac users, is cracking down on Steve Jobs calling Apple “Appholes”.

This feud is sort of a big deal considering they’ve been best friends for so long. Apple just doesn’t want to hang out with Adobe anymore, or to be more specific, Flash. But why? Flash brings us some of the most engaging and high stimulus internet experiences. It’s not like HTML5 or JQuery can bring us sites like the Wrangler Blue Bell website or the new Puma Lift website yet. If you’re reading this on your iPhone or iPad, don’t bother clicking those links. You can’t experience them, sorry.

Why would Steve Jobs want to limit our experience on his devices? Why is the public ok with this? I know Apple has a loyal following, but an image is delicate and shouldn’t be pushed. At some point the public is going to start asking itself if it’s ok for Apple to pick and choose what we can and cannot view on our devices as if it’s some Mini-China.

In an effort of full disclosure, I admit I am an Apple guy who works in graphic design. I have a G4, G5, MacBook Pro, iPod and iPhone (Side Note: I wish I would have invested in Apple stock instead of buying those older products). I love Apple products as much as everyone else, but recent events have made me step back for second and question. I don’t think I’m alone in this and I think Apple should be careful with the current situation and look at the value of their end users’ choices and online options.

I understand Apple is banking on HTML5 being able to output content comparable to Flash in the near future. And yeah, I’m not taking any chances. I’ve already preordered my HTML5 for Web Designers book. But what about now? Until then, the iPad isn’t “How the internet is suppose to be viewed”. And it definitely isn’t the “Full Web”. Generation Y is very familiar with media, communication, and technology. They aren’t going to just sit around and be content with a less than perfect media solution.

Steve Jobs tells us in his absolutely unnecessary post to the world, “Thoughts on Flash” that it has to do with battery life, technical drawbacks, touch usability, etc etc etc…. Adobe directly addressed these issues publicly in an exclusive interview on The Wall Street Journal Site. Even though it didn’t get as much play as Steve Jobs’s little temper tantrum, it brings some major points to light. These are two highly innovative companies. I’m fairly sure they can make Flash happen on our iPhones and iPads.

The real reason there’s no Flash on our iPhones and iPads is because in-browser applications would threaten Apple’s Appstore. Actually, it would threaten the whole ecosystem Apple’s building. The hardware in your hand, the operating system you interact with, and the apps you buy to access those hidden files. Lets be serious, Apple’s mobile OS wouldn’t be half as cool if we couldn’t customize it with our favorite Apps like Hipstamatic, Shazam, or Pandora. And why would I pay $1.99 for an app when I could go to a site and use it for free? Sure, it’s great that Apple is revolutionizing the way we interact with our devices in a more human and natural way, but it’s genius that it feeds right into the ability to control a continual stream of revenue that is the future of computing.

The future of computing are mobile devices. Personal computers are becoming less relevant. Even more importantly their profit margins are going down. Yes, Apple is the Lamborghini of computers, but Steve Jobs has realized that ownership of a sales channel is crucial. You can see this with his App Store or iTunes Store. This isn’t a one-off purchase of hardware. It’s potential revenue generation, day in and day out. And it doesn’t stop there.

You’re smart, I’m sure you’ve known the future of computing has centered around the internet for years now. So yeah, its obvious that with the increasing bandwidth, data can now stream right to whatever device we have in our grubby little hands. And thank God, because I don’t know what I would do without being able to purchase the new Mad Men episode right before I hopped on the Metro. But I digress, with this greater bandwidth, companies like Apple and probably Google will deliver your software, music, movies, etc. as a service. A service, often called Cloud Computing, that you can access from wherever you are and from whatever device you’re holding in that grubby little hand… as long as it works with their device and OS. No doubt, Cloud Computing comes with some serious advantages for the user. Don’t worry about backing up those files. Apple’s got your back, backing up your content in its cloud in the sky. Software updates are sooo 2010. That’ll be taken care of behind the scenes.

The convenient destruction of our idea of the “File” leads us right into accepting this Cloud Computing as the next step. Cloud Computing, sounds almost Godly doesn’t it? Well, it’s the future of computing and Steve Jobs is trying to lock down the whole revenue stream. There’s no room for a cross platform development tool like Flash in Steve Jobs’ future. But the future isn’t for Steve Jobs to own. Before Steve Jobs can turn the key, locking down this entire revenue stream, he would be wise to consider his customers’ freedoms. This relates directly back to Apple’s all important image. If not, that leaves an opening for companies like Google to walk right in and change the minds of their loyal following from Apple to Appholes. It may just be a phone that offers it users the option to view Flash content that opens this door.