Apple's Jobs slams Adobe's Flash Technology

In an open letter entitled "Thoughts on Flash," Jobs laid out a laundry list of complaints about the technology, raising questions about its security, "technical drawbacks," and power-management.

"Flash is a successful business for Adobe, and we can understand why they want to push it beyond PCs," he said. "But the mobile era is about low power devices, touch interfaces and open web standards -- all areas where Flash falls short."

Jobs said Flash is "closed" because it is a proprietary system from Adobe, which controls everything from its features to its pricing. Similar charges are routinely lobbed at Apple's products and services, such as the App Store and iTunes.

Flash-based video and games are found on many Internet sites, but Apple has not allowed Flash on its iPhone and iPad.

"Adobe has characterized our decision as being primarily business driven -- they say we want to protect our App Store -- but in reality it is based on technology issues. Adobe claims that we are a closed system, and that Flash is open, but in fact the opposite is true," Jobs said.

Adobe declined to comment. But in an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Chief Executive Shantanu Narayen called the technology problems noted by Jobs "a smokescreen."

He also denied Flash is a closed platform and said Apple's restrictiveness makes it difficult for developers who create applications for multiple devices.