- Monday, 9 November 2009
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America once had the clarity of a pioneer axe - Robert Osborn
Apple misled Iphone buyers
APPLE'S IPHONE adverts economised with the truth about its Internet capabilities, the UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ruled today.
The ASA said Apple's Iphone adverts unfairly promoted the device as a fully functioning web browser even though that isn't the case, as it lacks the software to display Flash animations and run content programmed in Sun's Java language.
The US based seller of fruit-themed computers and personal electronic gadgets had aired a TV advertising campaign in the UK claiming that its Iphone gives users access to "all parts of the Internet," which the ASA said misled prospective customers about its performance.
In reality, Iphone users cannot view the graphics, games and videos that are available on many websites because the Iphone's primitive web browser lacks a Flash software plugin.
Similarly, Iphone users cannot play some games and access some website Java applications because the Iphone's web browser doesn't include Java Runtime Environment software.
Apple had argued that its TV adverts were technically not misleading because all websites can be reached using its Second Coming combination phone and pocket music player, web browser and computer device, but the ASA disagreed.
In its final decision, the ASA wrote, "We noted Apple's argument that the ad was about site availability rather than technical detail but considered the claims 'You'll never know which part of the internet you'll need' and 'all parts of the internet are on the iPhone' implied users could access all websites and see them in their entirety.
"We considered that, because the ad had not explained the limitations, viewers were likely to expect to be able to see all the content on a website normally accessible through a PC rather than just having the ability to reach the website.
"We concluded the ad gave a misleading impression of the internet capabili ties of the iPhone." ยต
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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.
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.
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)
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.
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.
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.
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.
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