Next you're going to say it's Apple's fault the iPhone cannot view IE-only web pages. I suppose that makes Firefox on Linux an "incomplete" browser since Silverlight is not available?

I say it's the fault of the web developer who insists on using non-standard closed source tools which are available on a limited number of platforms. I myself use NoScript to turn most of that crap off. It it takes more than two NoScript overrides to make a web page usable, I say frakkit and move on to something else.

Windows might be on 95% of computers, but it is not the only OS capable of connecting to the Internet. 

"The Internet? We are not interested in it"
-- Bill Gates, 1993

You're right: even though Apple saying "all of the web" is a bit of a stretch, proprietary plugins shouldn't be taken into consideration.

I mean, what's next? "Oh, the iPhone doesn't support IT (Impulse Tracker) or PDF files! Since they are on the web, the ad is misleading."

I would agree if the iPhone doesn't support all of W3C's specs.

Java and Flash are proprietary -- they are owned by Sun and Adobe.

If people want to build websites that anyone can access then they should build them using open Web 2.0 standards and make them dynamic with AJAX.

Granted -- Flash sites have been around for a long time...

But the reality is this is a story about how Apple is increasingly able to flex its muscles to influence more open standards by leveraging the iPhone.


Look at QuickTime -- its supports (MPEG -4) H.264 for HD Audio/Video.

Look at iTunes/iPod -- it supports AAC -- a highly efficient open standard audio codec -- already recognized as the successor for MP3.

Look at its OS X Operating System -- its built using a BSD Unix MicroKernel.

Look at 3D graphics -- its using the industry standard OpenGL to deliver a programmable graphics hardware API.

Look at GPU Parallel programming -- its submitted OpenCL as a way for developers to write truly heterogeneous data and task parallel computing across CPU's and GPU's.

Look at Safari -- its built from the open source WebKit project and has also been contributing to SproutCore an optimized Javascript AJAX framework.


Apple could support Flash or Silverlight-- but why should it? It just makes Adobe or Microsoft more stronger. Instead websites owners will have to support Web 2.0/AJAX if they want iPhone users to access their sites. And this is what will happen.

peace.

Sorry Matthew, you're behind the times or a very selective user.

I use a lot of sites which frequently use Java apps (some 3D accelerated now through Java OpenGL) and a lot of flash sites. If a product says it supports all of the net, it should support BASIC expected functions for users. If it doesn't, it's clearly misleading to the already easily-misled people who buy iphones in the first place.

Don't defend Apple here unnecessarily. They screwed up. It happens. I'm not claiming other companies are saints, but if you mislead the public, you will be held accountable. Not even Apple is above that, however much some people may feel to the contrary.

This isn't a personal attack on you Matthew, just your point of view. I hope you enjoy your experience on the net without java and flash. I'll be happily enjoying browsing using a whole plethora of accepted net standards from my PC.

From the Apple Cult Dictionary:

Internet (n): A system of interconnected tubes that runs Safari, made possible by Lord Jobs.

(And Matthew, you're an idiot, Java has been around for browsers since it's inception well over 10 years ago, and Flash for almost just as long. Put down the punch, rip up your book, and put your iPhone in a blender. We'll help you get reacquainted to normal society)

Flash might not be part of the standardized definition of the internet, but it is used extensively and some pages even use it for menus, meaning no flash support - no naviation.. Also, try watching a YouTube video without flash installed.

I never caught on to the Iphone hype (or Apple in general), but I didn't expect it to be this crippled either.

Would that be like the "misleading" unlimited broadband claims that the ASA has refused to uphold time and time again?

The ASA are a joke.

Since when the hell was Flash a standardized part of the "Internet". Java? I can't even remember the last time I saw a site using it outside Academe.

Maybe I should say that Windows doesn't support the Internet as it has no standard "wget" tool built in. It also doesn't come with Java (at least my copy of Vista didn't). You have to download it.

iPhone doesn't run Silverlight either... does that mean it does support "the Internet".

ASA - pull your heads out the dark place please. It does HTML, HTTP, XML and Javascript... what the hell else do you need?!

G'z!!!

Matthew.