Here’s a look at some of the top stories on the Web right now. You’ve probably heard a thing or two about at least some of these stories, but if you’d like to learn more and impress your friends and coworkers in conversation, check out the links provided.
Adobe vs. Apple
This ongoing battle has been in the news for a couple of months. The short version is that Apple continues to exclude Adobe Flash Player from their mobile devices (iPhone, iPad). As Apple’s market share and resulting influence on Web design grows, Abode is growing more and more upset about this. In defense of their decision, Apple CEO Steve Jobs published an open letter on Apple.com in late April stating why they believe Adobe Flash is not worth supporting on their devices.
For more info on the story, check out this piece from PC World, published last week. Note that while the article appears to be balanced or perhaps even tilts slightly in support of Adobe, the user comments tend in favor of Apple. A similar trend can be observed in user generated content around the Web, and it provides interesting insight into what Web users are thinking regarding open Web standards and the future of Adobe Flash.
Google Caffeine
Google announced the full launch of Caffeine last week, a new Web indexing system which was designed to deliver better, fresher search results. SEO’s have been hearing about this update for a while, and it has been in the testing phase for several months. However, it was finally moved to all data centers last week. You can read more about Caffeine on Google’s blog, or read an in-depth analysis on Mashable.com.
Facebook and Privacy
After launching new features that opened up user data in new ways to developers, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg came under heavy fire for a lack of concern for user privacy. In some respects the claims were justified, but it also felt as if Facebook was being held as a scapegoat for all of people’s fears regarding the Web, online security, and personal privacy. Some irate members even went so far as to declare May 31st “Quit Facebook Day.” Though only about 30,000 members followed through with their threats, Facebook was concerned enough by the backlash to launch new privacy controls that were advertised a simpler and less-confusing way to manage your data on Facebook.
Here is the post from Facebook’s blog regarding the new privacy controls, written by Zuckerberg himself. It concludes with the following plea:
“On a personal note, I just turned 26 years old a few days ago. I started Facebook when I was 19 and it’s amazing to look back at how it has evolved…Each time we make a change we try to learn from past lessons, and each time we make new mistakes too. We are far from perfect, but we always try our hardest to build the best service for you and for the world. So I just want to say thanks.“
