The cofounders of Adobe have responded to Steve Jobs’ recent anti-Flash diatribe by criticizing the latter company’s alleged attempt to “dictate” and “control” the Web.
“Freedom of choice on the web has unleashed an explosion of content and transformed how we work, learn, communicate, and, ultimately, express ourselves,” Chuck Geschke and John Warnock explained in an open letter.
“We believe that Apple, by taking the opposite approach, has taken a step that could undermine this next chapter of the Web — the chapter in which mobile devices outnumber computers, any individual can be a publisher, and content is accessed anywhere and at any time.”
According to Geschke and Warnock, no company — no matter how big or how creative — should dictate what users create or experience on the Web.
“If the Web fragments into closed systems, if companies put content and applications behind walls, some indeed may thrive — but their success will come at the expense of the very creativity and innovation that has made the Internet a revolutionary force.
“In the end, we believe the question is really this: Who controls the World Wide Web? And we believe the answer is: nobody — and everybody, but certainly not a single company.”
