Flash and the PDF: Computing's Last Great and Now Endangered Monopolies

http://www.theatlantic.com/technolo...t-great-and-now-endangered-monopolies/255403/

 

Err, can someone explain to me what's wrong with PDF? Saying that it's bad because there are no readers installed by default sounds (to me) as dumb as saying RAR or 7zip is bad because there are no extractors installed by default, should we all use the inferior ZIP format just because some systems have it built in? Or maybe they are just isolating PDF out because it's the most popular format, where as RAR and 7zip aren't?

To me, PDF is like a TXT document, claiming it's somehow wrong seems odd, especially considering the numerous amount of readers at our disposal, there is 0 dependence on Adobe in this regard. Infact it's getting to the point that PDF readers can be built into the system: See Windows 8 (an app that has nothing to do with Adobe, and is more secure than Adobe's reader), will that suddenly make PDF "ok to use" just because it will be built in? Are they going to dismiss their entire China/Russia argument after that?

Just thinking out loud... am I looking at this wrong?

 

It's not like Adobe monopolise the PDF reader though is it? What about PDF X-Change, my favourite freeware reader?

 

I don't get the "PDF monopoly" either. I guess you could make the point that PDF=Adobe Reader in most folks minds...but I'm not so sure that's going to hold up for long. Flash will die eventually simply to advancing tech, that's a given. However, as it stands it's in the hands of web developers and current and future websites as to when that happens.

I don't see what this supposed "growth in importance" in Russia and China (really? Since when?) has to do with PDF files going away. You know, the cloud is fine and dandy, but it's not going to replace everything straight away, or even in the next couple of years (if it ever truly takes over period). But no, Adobe does not have a "stranglehold" on PDF files. Chrome has its own reader built in, and there are more than a handful of more than capable alternative readers out there.

The real last "monopoly" happens to be Windows..and I wish you luck trying to put that one to rest. Everything else comes and goes with the tides of tech.

 

I bloody well hope so!

 

It will, but it won't happen for a good while. You don't just "flip a switch" between already created Flash content and something else, and for some things it may not yet even be viable to go "Flash free".

 

I'm hoping for a speedier HTML5 adoption or for Adobe to somehow develop a way for Flash content to be displayed without users having to install Adobe Flash Player at all. Since I don't have Java, QuickTime and Silverlight installed, Adobe Flash Player is currently the only thing that stops me from saying "My browsers are running plugin-less"

As for PDF, SumatraPDf fits my needs just fine atm. I wonder when Windows 8 goes RTM, would it's own built-in PDF reader be the next in line to be termed as the "PDF monopoly"?

 

Yeah, I know.

I reckon that there will broadband available on Mars before flash is finally phased out. I think Adobe's flash plug-in & Java are two of the biggest headaches I have on the Internet.

 

Get a good corporate/government lawyer involved, and it's not impossible. However, don't expect it to get to the level that the IE mess did. Besides, as said earlier, there is no "monopoly" on PDF.

@Daveski: Yeah, it's going to be a good long while before we have a Flash-less internet. Java is nearly at that point, thank God.

 

May I humbly suggest that more exposure to the variety of PDF files is required. People will then get an idea of Adobe's grip.

And whether absolute terms such as monopoly or stranglehold are applicable or not is relative . People are upset over a search engine's ~66% monopoly but not upset about a desktop OS or a desktop office suite having ~99% market share.

 

Can someone verify this?
http://groups.google.com/a/googleproductforums.com/forum/#!topicsearchin/chrome/pdf$2420reader/chrome/OUvB59oTMds

 

Here's just one more:
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1040.pdf
Enter some info using the Chrome PDF Reader. Save the PDF file to your computer.
Re-open the PDF file that you saved. Does it have the data you entered?

 

I'm well aware of the special functions that can be used with PDF files, and other programs can work with such, so there is still no "monopoly". I'm not upset over the more proven monopoly of Google, I, like all users, have a choice in search engines. The same can almost be said for MS Office, if, as usual, it weren't for the business world. At home, it's a different story.

As I said earlier, Windows is more of a monopoly than all the other things combined. And, again, good luck stopping that.

 

Let's not get totally obsessed about the word "monopoly": it detracts from the real issue that far from all readers can open PDF files exposed to the public.

 

Point taken, you're right about the monopoly issue. No, not all of them can open every PDF file out there, especially the more "active" ones. However, I still think that, as a whole, the original article is a bit off.

 

No. There is no available reliable data concerning current global market shares of office suites (let alone desktop office suites).

Here is the most recent data (march/2012) about the others mentioned in your typical anti-Microsoft post (Windows OS and Google search):

Mobile/Tablet Search Engine Market Share:
Google - Global 90.07%

Desktop Search Engine Market Share
Google - Global 79.86%

Mobile/Tablet Operating System Market Share:
Windows Phone 0.42%
Windows Mobile 0.13%

Desktop Operating System Market Share:
Windows 92.48%

Source: http://www.netmarketshare.com/

And how exactly are you measuring the quantity of people who are "upset" with one imagined number and "not upset" with another?

 

I haven't furnished a number. My comment is based on posts that suggest, repeatedly, that competition is healthy when it comes to search engines. The same poster doesn't express any need for competition in desktop OS and desktop office suites.

I provided a link elsewhere to comments about the source of certain numbers that are being promoted.

The reason I am "anti-" something is because India is largely a poor country with poor IT penetration. Access to free software is a must, IMHO.

 

Who is that poster? If he is me, you are misinterpreting my posts. Of course I see need for competition between different desktop OS and desktop office suites. lol, I wish competition everywhere. I believe people tend to collaborate better and be more creative when they are competing with others.

"Competition is not only the basis of protection to the consumer, but is the incentive to progress." Herbert Hoover

As for India and Microsoft, see:
- http://www.microsoft.com/india/msindia/corporate_citizenship.aspx
- http://www.microsoft.com/india/msindia/perspective/index.aspx

 

That doesn't just necessarily apply to India in today's economic climate. OpenOffice is quite often used in education in my country. I'm just grateful that there is a freeware compatible alternative to MS Office.

 

Do you mean "That doesn't just necessarily apply just to India in today's economic climate."

 

No, I don't.

 

I'll be happy when flash starts dying off. It's just a tedious kind of thing in so many ways. As for the other stuff, it is what it is, various file formats and things to work with them.

Whatever works!