Steve Jobs, chief executive officer (CEO) of Apple Inc., on Thursday criticised the drawbacks of Adobe Systems Inc.'s Flash technology, intensifying the tension between the two once close Silicon Valley companies.
Flash can be used to embed video in web pages, and according to Adobe, its Flash software is installed on about 98 per cent of personal computers (PCs) connected to the Internet.
However, Apple has been under pressure for the company's position to not allow Flash on its iPods, iPhones and the newly-launched iPads.
In a lengthy article posted on Apple's website on Thursday, Jobs defended Apple's decision, saying the stance is "based on technology issues," rather than to protect its own business as Adobe has claimed.
"Flash is closed and proprietary, has major technical drawbacks, and doesn't support touch based devices," Jobs wrote in the article, adding that Adobe also wants developers to adopt Flash to create applications that run on Apple's mobile devices.
"We know from painful experience that letting a third party layer of software come between the platform and the developer ultimately results in sub-standard apps and hinders the enhancement and progress of the platform," the Apple CEO said.
