I think this is Apple's worst day, and quite possibly the day it jumped the shark.
This is a horrible move by Apple and shows that they really don't want to compete.
Jon Gruber wrote an embarassing apologist blog post about why Apple did this. His main claim is that this is to prevent poor apps from infesting the app store. This is utterly wrong.
Apple's real fear is that the apps may actually be extremely good. If a framework exists that can target the iPhone and make great apps, but also great apps for WP7 and Android then they're in trouble.
Lets be clear, web apps (html/javascript) are amongst the most horrible you can write across any vectory (quality, performance, etc...), yet Apple will allow those, despite them not being "native" apps. Why? Because they know those apps will never be that great. They don't threaten the fact that they have the best app store in the world. But if Monotouch apps started being the premiere apps, then Apple would worry, because it's a 10 second port to make it a Windows Phone app.
This IMO, is the darkest day for Apple. While I've never been a huge fan of Jobs, I think they crossed a line with this language.
While Apple may have put another nail in Flash's coffin, I think they've unwittingly helped seal their own fate.
Apple’s got no love for Flash, that’s for sure. But what once was a only skirmish has been upgraded to a full-on assault.
In February Steve Jobs took a position that Flash is buggy on Macs and that it would cut the iPad’s battery life to 1.5 hours. Then Jobs took his anti-Flash message on the road as part of the early iPad negotiations with publishers, several of whom noted that Jobs was quick to bash Flash.
Apple increased the pressure on Adobe and Flash this week with the release of the iPhone 4.0 beta SDK which explicitly prohibits the use of cross-compilers, i.e the Flash-to-iPhone compiler in the upcoming Flash Professional CS5.
Gruber lays out changes in the agreement, which must be agreed to by anyone downloading the 4.0 SDK:
iPhone OS 3.2 SDK of the iPhone Developer Program License Agreement:
3.3.1 — Applications may only use Documented APIs in the manner prescribed by Apple and must not use or call any private APIs.
iPhone OS 4.0 beta SDK of the iPhone Developer Program License Agreement:
3.3.1 — Applications may only use Documented APIs in the manner prescribed by Apple and must not use or call any private APIs. Applications must be originally written in Objective-C, C, C++, or JavaScript as executed by the iPhone OS WebKit engine, and only code written in C, C++, and Objective-C may compile and directly link against the Documented APIs (e.g., Applications that link to Documented APIs through an intermediary translation or compatibility layer or tool are prohibited).
ZDNet’s own Larry Dignan notes that Apple’s Flash Jihad is so significant that Adobe is legally obligated to disclose it in its quarterly filing with the SEC (emphasis mine):
…new releases of operating systems or other third-party products, platforms or devices, such as the Apple iPhone or iPad, make it more difficult for our products to perform, and our customers are persuaded to use alternative technologies, our business could be harmed.
Could this the be final nail in the coffin for Flash?
