British ad watchdogs nix iPhone "whole internet" claim

Ok. So no flash in the iphone because it is no standard. Therefore no movies on the iphone because there is no standard way for playing movies on the web. Ahh yes, you can use Apple Quicktime...
Looks like apple follow standards only when is in his own interest.

Most of the innovation in the web does not come from the W3C and its standards. So when claiming that following standards is a good thing I agree, but allowing extensibility, like with plugins, also drives innovation.

This is not a technical or philosophical discussion, it is a business strategy from Apple. They haven't talked with Adobe to support Flash.
So if Apple wants to fight Adobe ok, but then they have to say, Hey! we support all the web that is within our strategic interest.

Sorry, I am a apple fan but really saying that the advert was not misleading is just kidding yourself. The whole hype with the iphone is that it was not the "sorta looks like the internet" internet. For a claim like I would expect it Flash and Java. With plug-ins available for things like shockwave as time moves on.

Out of the box I would expect that claim to give me the same access to the internet as internet explorer 7 out of the box. Basic flash and java support.

Well done the ASA.

Guess I have to defend Apple here, very rare on my part.

Java and Flash are applications that run in the browser via plug-ins. Claiming that they are somehow "standards" and part of the whole internet is like trying to claim that Bittorrent is a standard that should be included in the iPhone. However nice that would be (very nice actually), it's not and neither is Java and Flash.

I do wonder why they're not bitching and moaning about the lack of FTP, Gopher, Finger... blah blah blah.

Flash and Java will never be supported on the iPhone over the HTTP protocol... ever. The reason... it would only take a single web server app given away for free through the App store to end Apple's stranglehold on the iPhone software market.

All it would take would be for the end user to copy whatever flash or java files to the web server's share directory and then access it from whatever app supports such content by connecting to server 127.0.0.1. Suddenly, you have a local app running outside the bounds of the App store's reach with the iPhone thinking it's accessing the "real internet".

Of course, by the time this occurs, Apple would be quick to squelch it, further stifling development on it's great new platform... yet again.

The sad thing is, my aging Nokia 770 supports these very technologies the iPhone lacks... on significantly inferior hardware at that.

99% of my regular web stops have flash or flash video in their reporting (like here, for example).

iphone needs flash...badly

I think this ruling is ridiculous, and very narrow-minded, if not ignorant.

The fact that the iPhone doesn't support Flash or Java is a minor technicality. If they really wanted go in depth and get technical, they would realise that the "Internet" is much more than just the web and associated technologies. Does the iPhone support all other internet protocols? Does the iPhone support IPV6? &c... If they were really being serious they would take these questions and more into account, and stop bitching about 3rd party technologies. However it seems like they're just being douchebags.

@ Kelmon:

If you buy an iPhone because it gives you the "whole internet" in your pocket and then find that when you try to access your site that you can't because there is no Flash plug-in then you, as the customer, have been deceived.

Valid, and I won't focus on Apple or the ASA for this response, but rather the reason for this article in the first place. The ASA protects stupid people and impulse buyers.

If I buy ANYTHING over a hundred bucks, you can damn well assure yourself I will research it THROUGH and THROUGH before purchasing it. I value my money just THAT much. It's funny because I'd be willing to bet easily 3/4's of people would put a decent amount of effort into researching an iPhone before buying one. Even the ones that lined up around Apple stores, most of these folks attempted to find out what they'd be bringing home. Almost all of them realize that there is no Flash or Java support on the iPhone before buying, thus negating the validity of the ad they saw with the "whole internet" claim. They haven't been decieved as a customer, because they haven't yet bought the device.

The ASA in this case is protecting the theoretical remaining 1/4 of buyers. In this case, I'd have to ask those buyers perhaps WHY they wouldn't research a big ticket item like a new smartphone. Especially one that either comes with a 2 year contract, or becomes a LARGER ticket item without said contract. Impulse buying of such things is a no-no, and it's funny to me that people still do that, and yeah I realize that they do. It sets them up for dissapointment. There also lies a small amount that did do research on the device and didn't find the lack of these web technologies and might wind up dissapointed anyway. They gave it the college try, and I suppose the ASA protects them as well.

I mean really, who DIDN'T know the damn 3G didn't support flash or java. Really?

This all depends on how you define the internet.

Flash is a plug-in and not part of HTML specs, therefore not a requirement for a fully functional internet browser.

Claiming MobileSafari is not the 'full internet' because it doesn't have a flash player is like saying a car stereo that doesn't play MP3-CD is not a 'full CD player'

By Kelmon's way of thinking, all one has to do to make the ASA's view correct is make a website in a way that a browser cannot parse it without Magic Pluginâ„¢ - and even if it's only used on one site, the claim is now incorrect. This makes very little sense.

I don't care how many sites Flash is used on - Flash is not the internet, the web is HTML/DHTML/XHTML/javascript, and the rest is optional fluff - as proven because you need to actively install a plugin in order to access the optional stuff. Just because some nitwit of a designer decides to require it does not change the definition of the 'whole internet.'

Flash is a virus that breaks the internet.

Sites which use Flash for important content need to stop, because it breaks accessibility not only to iPhone users, but also to sight disabled users.

The only way to curb sites from using Flash is to show them that the won't reach their intended audience if they insist on using Flash. The iPhone not supporting Flash is one good way of doing this.

Just as I don't want to be told that I need an Intel Mac to see the internet (microsoft silverlight) or need IE on Windows to view a page rather than Safari or Firefox (banking sites, I'm looking at you) I don't need or want Flash, with all its incompatible versions (Flash 8? Flash 9? Flash lite?) - I don't want Flash on my computer, and I don't want it on my mobile.