Apple might eventually have to cave if Flash becomes a standard feature of all other smartphones.

AIR For Android, And Adobe’s Plan To Deliver Apps Across All Mobile Devices.

We’ll just wait for New York to wake up and find out what John Gruber has to say about it – although he probably couldn’t give a monkeys – but it is sure to be entertaining reading if he weighs in.

For what it’s worth, I think it’s a great idea and a terrible idea. If this is a backdoor for poorly designed and poorly developed Flash Apps and advertising banners to dominate our interactions, then it will do none of us any favours. I think the same about Flash CS5 export to iPhone. But if AIR is another option to distribute apps then why not? (remember, AIR has a great HTML5 rendering engine in WebKit too). This is obviously not going to be subject to the same UI standards that make the iPhone so universally usable, but the reality is we live in a plural world, and the monoculture of iPhone UI specifications cannot possibly last forever, and nor should it. These platforms and devices all need to let go a little to allow the innovators and expressive interface designers experiment a bit.

Interesting times ahead.

I will admit that I like developing with both ActionScript and JavaScript/HTML.  I think both the Flash Platform and the Browser show great potential for different purposes. And each has its problems when misapplied. So what’s new? As developers we face these choices with our technology every day. So Flash isn’t on the iPad or iPhone. Does it matter that much? It’s a single device platform with a visionary design. It should be applauded. But we are not creating interactivity for a monoplatform world. Innovation will mean there is something that outwits the iPhone OS. Necessity will require us to adopt new, unchartered and non-standard solutions. Interaction design and communication technology is not all about LED screens and input devices.  Principles will still be the same: make things for people not for technologies.

There is so much to say on this subject, it opens up so many juicy channels of opinion, debate and evidence. Is this about openness? Is it about innovation? Is it about standards? Is it about winners or losers? Ultimately the debate is good for the web development community, and it’s time we all had a chance to define some thinking about these issues in this landscape. The launch of the iPad may be a watershed moment for more reasons than innovative touchscreen technology and eBooks saving the publishing industry.

I think the ball is in Adobe’s court right now. They could really turn this around to their favour. Open source the Flash Platform completely? Support the development and adoption of the HTML standard by giving developers more great tools? Make Flash  better and more essential to everyday browsing? Make a FlashPad device?

Ray Valdes on Gartner probably offers the best and most balanced overview of the issues that face us as media producers for these platforms.