I’ve never really been a fanboy of Apple products, although I know people who drool over every shiny new toy that Apple puts out. They do seem enticing, but having never owned anything Apple, I don’t really know first-hand how their stuff compares to the competition. But I’m beginning to know one thing – Apple does not play fair.
Some view the iPad as being seriously deficient compared to netbooks. One of those flaws is the lack of support for Adobe Flash. This is justified, says Steve Jobs, because Flash is buggy, a memory hog, and prone to crashes. Perhaps the real reason is that Steve is out to protect his precious and lucrative app store from Flash-based apps which could potentially be accessed for free on Flash-enabled websites. The end result is that hundreds of thousands of websites with any degree of Flash content will be crippled when visited on an iPad. Not only is Flash prohibited, but Apple has taken it one step further – only apps built in Apple-approved languages are allowed in the app store. To wit:
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).
Sounds like a fascist threat to me – do it my way or the highway. Now of course, many will argue that no one is forcing us to buy iPads, and Apple can do what they damn well want with it. True enough, but in these days of open source internet, Apple is going the opposite direction and attempting to choke the internet with its own strictly-controlled proprietary products.
And now to my main point – Apple is not doing eLearning any favors with this self-serving action. Hundreds of excellent (and free) online Flash-based educational games as well as those built with Microsoft Silverlight will not be available on the iPad. These games make learning fun. They entice students of all ages to get involved and to develop their talents and interests. Some say that HTML 5 will soon replace the need for these browser plugins, but don’t hold your breath.
So, let’s do what Steve tells us. Let’s buy iPads for our kids and install them in all our classrooms… and in the process close the door to an enriching eLearning experience. iProtest.
