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Apple ignited a debate last week when it tightened the rules governing how applications can be coded for its iPhone operating system, which runs on the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch. Apple insists applications be "originally written" in certain programming languages, rather than converted from unsupported code. It was assumed to be part of Apple's ongoing war with Adobe, which on Monday released a long-anticipated tool to save its Apple-denied Flash files as iPhone applications. (Adobe may now be preparing to sue Apple.) Initially, the change sparked complaints, but now some are coming to Apple's defense, arguing that the move is good for users and is a natural extension of the philosophy that has made Apple such a huge success.
Blogger Greg Slepak allegedly e-mailed his complaints about the change to Apple CEO Steve Jobs, who has been known to respond to personal e-mails. In the alleged exchange, Jobs referred Slepak to another tech blogger, saying "We think John Gruber’s post is very insightful and not negative." Gruber had written that allowing cross-platform converters would make it harder for Apple to rein in users because "there’s no lock-in advantage."