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Re: [school-discuss] Semi-OT: No "Scratch" on iPad




Not a big surprise, considering Apple's rules about
interpeted languages (see: Commodore 64 emulator and
Adobe Flash), but the irony here is painful :(

http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/04/apple-scratch-app/

As another commenter suggested already, it's a pretty lousy article, really...  "Vaporware" doesn't even begin to describe the 1968 Dynabook concept, for one thing.  Apple's policy denying launching of arbitrary code isn't so much designed to be anti-competitive, but is more a security feature (obviously, it really serves both purposes, and I'm totally editorializing, just as Wired is totally editorializing in the other direction, so take that for what it's worth...  I submit that launching of arbitrary code has security ramifications, which I figure puts me a step ahead of Wired, anyway...)

Also, Bill, as an aside...  you might note that Adobe has still never delivered a platform for running the vast majority of Flash code on a mobile platform...  the A4 processor in the iPad can scarcely handle that degree of processing, and Adobe's mobile flash player is pretty much junk...  

There's plenty of tools for running things like Scratch-- trying to wedge it into a closed ecosystem isn't necessarily the best idea, right?  

 James