L33.me is the Digital Home of Lee Graham

I thought I would take a minute to explain how my view on Apple has changed over the years:

• Prior to college I had no experience with Apple and do to my immaturity I thought they sucked.
• In college I started working for an eLearning company and was introducted to my first Mac and Final Cut Pro. I found it fabulous... no blue screen of death and it just worked. A start to a beautiful relationship... I'm completely sold that everyone should have a Mac over Windows.
• Got my first iPhone right before the iPhone 3GS came out. Feel in love all over again.
• Started developing iPhone apps using Flash CS5 Packager for iPhone, get one, TheProducer (Lite Edition) approved and in the iTunes App Store.
• I developed a full version of TheProducer and submit it to the iTunes App Store.
• Apple then announces the iPad. I pre-order an iPad. Meanwhile, I'm starting to build an iPad version of TheProducer using Flash CS5.
• I get my iPad and even get TheProducer working on it and within days Apple block Flash (and AIR apps) on the iPhone and iPad.
• 6 email inquiries later, the full version of TheProducer is still "In Review" at Apple and has been since March 15, 2010.
• I lost my temper with Apple: 
  • Apple's CEO Entered an Insanity Plea as the Reason for Banning Flash on the iPhone
  • The Flash on iPhone War: Flash & Flex Developer Magazine (April 2010)
  • Adobe Fights to Set the Record Straight about Flash
  • A Letter to Steve Jobs
• I swap to the Google Nexus One and Android 2.2. If I may add, runs Flash and AIR apps really nicely!
• Future outlook... I still think Windows is an inferior product in comparison to Mac OS X, but I don't think I'll be buying an iPhone 4 anytime soon.

BTW... I'm selling my iPad! Can't wait to get my hands on Notion Ink's ADAM!!!

The following is a letter I've sent to Mr. Jobs concerning Flash & AIR on the iPhone & iPad:

Dear Steve,

I agree with you... apps and content need to run well on mobiles, and they need to be developed with quality and performance in mind. With that said, I think you are possibly misplacing your blame. Tools aren't the problem, developers are! I don't have a problem with Apple curating the App Store, but by forcing developers to use only one set of tools, I must respectfully disagree. This should be the developer's choice.

I think you are missing a huge opportunity here to increase your company's revenue. This little demo proves Flash content can run really well on mobiles devices that are comparable to your iPhone & iPad if done properly.

I believe the real issue that you aren't taking into consideration is that whether an app is built with Flash, Java or even Objective-C; they can still crash. I've seen it with my own eyes with apps on my iPhone and iPad. The quality of the app is up to the developers to ensure that their app is optimized and bug-free. It is not right to blame the tools when the developer built a bloated, buggy app that crashes. That blame should fall solely on that developer for not having a mastery of his tools. Plus, there are still a large number of iPhone apps built with Adobe's AIR iPhone Packager currently in the iTunes Store, of which that majority of them function just as well as Objective-C coded iPhone apps.

BTW... I still have one app, TheProducer, that has been locked eternally "In Review" since March 15, would you at least either approve or deny it. We would like to move forward building apps for the iPhone and iPad with Flash CS5, so that we can educate people of all ages, around the world on how they can create quality media with tools such as the iPhone 4.

I ask that you at least reconsider Apple's stand on this. You could increase your enterprise and gaming developer community significantly by accepting ActionScript developers.

Warmest Regards,
Lee Graham