Only in america can one company with the monopoly on internet video complain to the FTC about potential monopolistic tactics of a smaller player for not allowing their content on a device. This should get interesting.

I think jobs has lost his touch, lost his cool, now he can ride on the fanatic fanbois for years regardless, but it might halt growth and start a slow decline, although, since his consumerbase is americans it's hard to tell what will happen, they aren't the brightest bunch often, and very good at being religious followers.

And as the fools shout at each other, someone slips quietly into first place. Google.

Google for search.

Google for shopping.

Google for browsing.

Google for mapping.

Google for operating system.

Google for mobile phones.

Google for email.

Google for online documents.

Google for the win!

And recently that fool Yahoo! boss said that Google needed to diversify, lol.

Think about a Google ipod, iphone, ipad. Those are all coming, along with everything else.

Anything else you hear is just noise.

Track google's shares this year, and the other guys, in fact put a 3 month plot of them over the next 3 years. Just write it down in an email to yourself with a calendar reminder to update it in 3 months time.

Stock Market - anyone else noticed how most of the top 100 shares doubled or trebled since their low prices during the shock 2 years ago? UK shares did this, check it out for yourself.

Nick F - u rock!

First off, let me say that I have always appreciated the free press here and Nick Farrell.

I have an equestrian, Mister Precedent!

As for monopolies, what about TelCos and ISPs?

But I'm concerned about how Apple will seek to embugger based on hardware capabilities.

And nobody is decrying that the Kindles must use Flash.

So discriminating mark up defacto standards, context becomes an issue.

An App is an app, app-course, app-course. But are browsers merely in the bullseye of the beholder?

Some things are so big
They make no sense
Histories so small
People are so dense
Someone sees it all
Goodbye Mister. Ed

Never mind the Pistols
They laid the Golem eggs
Others came to hatch them
Outside the pale
Someone sees it all
Goodbye Mister. Ed

your comments regarding mini display port are very true, especially not having audio on previous models.

fortunately for me i need only stereo and i'm using audio out and it's connected directly to my logitechz-4 speakers an hdmi (video) goes to lcd tv.

it didn't hurt me to pay a tenner for adaptor since i paid xxx for laptop :). it would be nice if they include these adaptors with laptops. but not a biggie for me. what's more annoying is that it can't remember positions of the opened windows and adjust automatically based on the res - i connect/disconnect my lappie to tv quite often and i need move windows ever time.

Jobs might be discouraged to discover that He is not the Center Of The Universe (COTU) after all, if the FTC pulls rank on Him. How upsetting this will be!

Actually, even if not a COTU, he IS obviously a waste of a perfectly good liver (WOL).

I find it truly dizzying how the #3 vendor of smartphones can be accused of monopolistic behavior.

"Reasonable people with half a brain can see that Apple is the victim..." -- but no matter how great their products are, as they gain wealth, they exercise power ruthlessly, just as M$ did/does/will do. It's evidently an iron law of human nature, an irresistible urge to bend everyone to your will just because you can. If Apple doesn't yet meet your legalistic definitions of "monopoly", it's not because they're not trying.

As for press stories: Jon Stewart on the Daily Show, 4-28, called Apple worse than M$ because of what Apple did AFTER the Gizmodo flap was essentially over.

Lets be honest here...just because Apple does not charge royalties on its DisplayPort, does not mean it has an advantage over HDMI. DisplayPort is owned by Apple Inc. and commonly found on Apple devices. I don't care about a Cinema Dispaly, when I have a 46" Samsung LCD display in my living room and I am unable to plug a MacBook directly to my tv due to lack of HDMI ports on Apple devices....which further directs me to purchase another product from Apple to be used as a 3rd party connector.

In regards to Video and Audio on DP
Also from Wiki:

While the DisplayPort specification is capable of supporting digital audio, the older 2009 line of MacBooks and MacBook Pros are unable to provide an audio signal through the Mini DisplayPort, and only do so over USB, Firewire, or the audio line out port instead (the April 2010 line of MacBook Pro, however, supports this[14]). This can present a problem to users who intend to connect their computers to HDTVs using a Mini DisplayPort to HDMI adapter. To work around this issue, some third-party manufacturers have created adapters that plug into both the Mini DisplayPort (for video) and a USB port (for audio) or Mini DisplayPort (for video), a USB port (for power) and the optical out (for audio); either option terminating with a single female HDMI connector, thus allowing both video and audio to be channeled over the one HDMI cable.[22]

I'm pretty sure about 99% of the Apple Community ownes devices older than April 13th 2010.

Also from Wiki: On 13 April 2010, Apple added support for audio out using Mini DisplayPort in their new MacBook Pro product line.[14]

They could have done this long time ago...but Apple had to play scrooge.

If you leave your car with the keys and the title then you are an idiot and I say "finders keepers, losers weepers"

As for the rest of your post:

"As a consumer, I want open standards so that I can get content on whatever device I want that supports open standards." is completely contradictory to the entire story, Apple in general, and the concept of "walled garden". There is not a lot "open" about Apple, the iPhone, or a "walled garden" platform, and that's the point Adobe is making.

"As to programming tools, the only people benefitting from Adobe's attempt to produce a cross platform development platform are Adobe and programmers."

That statement is completely innaccurate. In reference to the article, Adobe has filed complaints with government agencies. This would benefit more than just them. If they were only concerned with themselves, they'd just sue or yank/use their Creative Suite as leverage to get Apple to bend to their whim. However, if an FTC or Justice Department inquiry were successful, it could pave the way for OTHER 3rd party development tools which would benefit multiple parties. Additionally, a "cross platform development platform", as you call it, would allow developers to attempt to deliver a consistent experience across multiple products. That would drive competition, which is what truly drives innovation and fair pricing and competitive business tactics. THAT benefits consumers, and that's what *I* care about. I shouldn't be forced to switch to a horrible AT&T service or buy a particular *brand* phone to be a part of any particular type of "superior experience." To here Apple people say "superior experience" just makes me throw up in my mouth due to excessive arrogance.

"If programmers want to code for the lowest common denominator, they can be lazy and code for Android, Symbian, Windows 7, etc. all at once." ... "and appreciate that Apple sets standards. The standards benefit Apple, quality developers and I."

WTF do you think a standard is? A memo from Steve Jobs? A standard would be EXACTLY a developmental tool that would allow developers to program for many platforms. "CLOSED development", "proprietary methods", "patent hoarding", dictating, and preaching are what PAYS Apple and infects you with mad cash disease. Apple doesn't set standards, they TRY to dictate them, just like many other corporations. They tell us we should use firewire and not USB, we should use mice with one button not 2 or 5, and we should NOT use flash. They are dictating what content YOU can and cannot use on a device you bought, and if you break it they won't warranty it. Sounds like a "superior experience."

Finally:
"I'm not interested in their crapware though"

The Comment title of your post is "Grow up" but then you resort to childish name calling and telling other people that their "experiences" are inferior. I don't know if you've ever tried to program before. I'm no expert, I learned entry level PASCAL in high school and a little C++ in CS 101 in college, and that's hard to do. So to call software that people spent time working on "crapware" just because it's not blessed with your Apple logo and Steve Jobs didn't say it's OK is pretty insulting. By the way, last time I checked Android, Symbian, and Windows 7 were doing pretty good on marketshare. Who's the lowest common denominator again? (did you mean Windows Phone 7 Series? Which isn't even out yet?)

Perhaps you've got some growin' up to do.

Oh yeah, and speaking of "crapware", ever tried iTunes? complete garbage

and I quiver whenever I see QuickTime loading on my computer... more garbage

I cant help but notice that nobody here has mentioned that apple has banned third party analytics. That will force developers to use iAd for targetted ads giving apple an unfair advantage in the mobile advertising market. That is what the Feds are going to be most concerned about.

apple uses mini display port instead of hdmi as all cinema displays they sell have display port connection (also Dell monitors). the adapter costs £9.99 on amazon and 1.2m hdmi golden plated cable costs £1.69 on amazon. apple uses display port over hdmi because it's royalty free, from wikipedia:

DisplayPort has an advantage over HDMI in that it is currently royalty-free, while the HDMI royalty is 4¢ per device and has an annual fee of $10,000 for high-volume manufacturers. DisplayPort also uses a micro-packet-based transport that could allow support for multiple audio/video streams

"Adobe has been one of the few software vendors to actually design software to run on Jobs' Mob gear and it helped create Apple's dominance of the publishing industry."

wasn't this the other way around Nick? wasn't it apple who actually used Adobe's postscript in their laser printer and then owned 20% of Adobe's shares? Wasn't it Apple who actually brought Adobe to desktop publishing. Adobe left development on Mac platform in second half of 90s and all CS packages lacked on Mac in comparison with Win versions. Nick get your facts together. Do some research, read, make notes and then re-write article from somewhere else using your notes. Adobe was lazy when it comes to Flash on Mac/Linux - it runs well only on Win machines.

Your comments are hilarious.

"the only people benefitting from Adobe's attempt to produce a cross platform development platform are Adobe and programmers."

That's the whole point of the investigation you idiot. Particularly the programmers.

"The only people who benefit from Flash are Adobe and perhaps developers."

And consumers who want flash on their Apple products. You might not care for it, but plenty of people do.

"As a consumer, I want open standards so that I can get content on whatever device I want that supports open standards."

And so you choose Apple products? Some of the most closed systems sold to consumers?

What about the developers who want open standards so they can DEVELOP content for whatever device they want?

Your entire comment is littered with equating what you want to what all consumers want. That is not the case. Just about every iPhone user that I work with wants flash on their iPhone/iPod. They don't care what Steve Jobs thinks, they want it.

But that goes back to Apple's business model. They don't look at what consumers want and give it to them. They give users what they (Apple) want and then convince them that the things that the users truly want they don't need.

Replaceable battery? Expandable memory? USB ports? Ability to use something besides iTunes? Flash?

I don't know a single iPhone/iPod user that doesn't want at least one of those features. But Apple doesn't care about that, because each of those would cut into their revenue streams.

And that's fine. If that's how Apple wants to make their products, go ahead. But then don't claim that Apple is all about "open standards" when they are far, far from open themselves.

The Inquirer has never been known for its even handed reporting. But this one is just lame. Apple has a minute share of the mobile phone market. So in what universe should the Feds be treating this like a monopoly?

And the fact that the Inquirer can't see the difference between Microsoft's 90% and Apple's 5-15% share (depending on whether your looking at all mobile or just smart phones) says more about the lack of objective reporting than anything.

Sure they have restrictive rules regarding the apps they let on their app store, probably too restrictive. But look at the game platforms. Aren't those platforms equally restrictive -- and some of those companies have a far larger share of the market.

The fact is that Adobe has been treating Apple like crap for years now. And Flash is just as closed a system as the Apple App Store. But of course the Inquirer doesn't even mention that fact.

Nor does the Inquirer rant mention the fact that Gizmodo got into trouble by paying $5000 for stolen property. And yes, even the guy who did it has admitted that he was wrong to take the phone from the bar.

And how does a comment by Goldman have anything to do with Apple? Should we blame Adobe for this poorly written Inquirer article?

Sloppy work.

By the way...the comment titled "Grow up" seems like it came from one of Apple's legions....stop protecting yourself from the truth Apple!

Apple contains a secure grip on it's products and charge consumers extra for things that should have been free or came standard. For example, you would have to purchase an adapter from Apple to connect an HDMI cable to a MacBook (which would roughly cost you an additional $20-30 in addition to the purchase of the MacBook and the HDMI cable) If Apple continues to restrict their products, they will fail in the long run...or dominate through money splurging consumers! no offense.

Could this article in any way possibly be more vapid? It's totally lacking any pertinent references, and is more conspiracy theory than a fairy tale about talking wolves.

Let's just take a few points:

1) "The press is turning sour." Really? Where? Besides the Inq, that is.

2) "Adobe ratted to the FTC." Really? Says who? Besides the Inq, that is.

3) "If Flash is bad/HTML5 good, it should take no effort." Bollocks. Tell that to all those failed standards that had no one championing them and were left to rot in the compost bin, like the OSI network stack, among many many others.

4) "Monopoly"? Apple? I've heard this hyperbole too many times to let it go anymore. How could ANYONE consider Apple to be a monopoly? They're a niche player -- a very fine niche, but a niche nonetheless. That's like saying that Burger King has a monopoly on Whoppers.

5) The idea that Microsoft *wasn't* saved by the Bush administration? Just think, if the Clinton administration had gotten its way, we'd have been living with 3 or more Microsoft-mini's for the past decade, and chances are fewer as the small bits would have been more easily battled. We're just lucky that Microsoft hasn't innovated at all in the past decade and is dying its own death. It's taken a lot longer, but we're still managing to slowly whittle away at the real monopoly in the industry (i.e., the one with 90% marketshare, not 8%.)

Apple wants people who buy its niche products to have access to good quality products (i.e., no viruses, trojans, spyware, or BSOD-producing crapware) to run on them. How anyone can possibly twist that into a monopolistic conspiracy theory boggles the mind of us skeptics.

Man, the Inq disappoints...

if you really played Runescape you'd have known that RS is a JAVA + OpenGL application not a FLASH one.

Pretty important difference between them but even so, both are banned from Apple's iThings ...

The Gizmodo "journalist" broke multiple laws by paying for stolen property, disassembling it, and publishing information for gain. Apple may file a civil complaint but criminal investigations are the provence of law enforcement. Personally, I believe it clear that a theft occurred and multiple persons involved should be punished. This was not a single phone - it was a case of a company enriching itself through theft. Damage to Apple may potentially be in the tens of millions which would have to be recouped through civil action. Reasonable people with half a brain can see that Apple is the victim of unethical, immoral actions by the person finding the phone, the "journalist" buying the phone, and by Gizmodo in wrongly publishing trade secrets obtained through the purchase of stolen property. (If I leave my car with registration papers and keys and you take it that is theft - same with the phone...)

As for Adobe, they do not have a mobile flash player yet. The desktop version is pathetic and crashes frequently. The only people who benefit from Flash are Adobe and perhaps developers. As a consumer, I want open standards so that I can get content on whatever device I want that supports open standards.

As to programming tools, the only people benefitting from Adobe's attempt to produce a cross platform development platform are Adobe and programmers. As a consumer, I want high quality software that does not crash, is not prone to viruses, and that takes advantage of the features and functions of my phone in an elegant manner. I choose to live within Apple's "walled garden" because it gives me a superior experience, increased productivity, better safety from viruses, etc.

If programmers want to code for the lowest common denominator, they can be lazy and code for Android, Symbian, Windows 7, etc. all at once. I'm not interested in their crapware though and appreciate that Apple sets standards. The standards benefit Apple, quality developers and I.

Yes, I play Runescape. Actually there are quite a few people who do, and it's a Flash Application, and actually well written. It pisses me off that I can't play that game on my iPhone whilst I'm on the metro, or the train, or any number of other places where I could be playing it.

C'mon Steve Jobs, buck up and be a good little camper...let loose the hounds! You can't keep your money garden all to yourself.

While I am no Flash convert, I do not have an "issue" with Flash apps. Sure, there are some poorly written apps out there - I generally use AdBlockPlus to filter out any particularly pesky web adds.

But then there are some really good Flash applications such as MonoSlideshow.

What really gets my back up is when someone tries impose silly restrictions on the way I should use something I have purchased. MS used to be the king of silly restrictions, but clearly Apple wants to play catch-up in this department.

It's a bit ironic that the main reason I moved to Mac was because of how well Adobe products worked on a Mac...

If you do that, your fate will be like AMD. I think Adobe should build its software lines in MeeGo, as MeeGo is the most fair OS in the world.