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Another nail in Flash's coffin

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radiogoober

macrumors 6502a
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Jun 7, 2011
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Pandora has rebuilt it's front-end in super fast HTML5, dropping support for antiquated Flash.

http://www.pandora.com/newpandora

Another nail in Flash's coffin. The more that this happens, the better.

I still stand by my statement: any competing mobile OS that brags about supporting Flash is in fact advertising a negative feature. Flash is a step backwards and supporting Flash is merely a diversion so people can overlook your poorly designed OS. Concentrate on the user experience and quit trying to tack on "features" that are really just distractors.
 
I believe Pandora's days are numbered.. Especially with the huge cloud streaming service and the push by the subscription based streaming music services...;)
 
radiogoober said:
Pandora has rebuilt it's front-end in super fast HTML5, dropping support for antiquated Flash.

http://www.pandora.com/newpandora

Another nail in Flash's coffin. The more that this happens, the better.

I still stand by my statement: any competing mobile OS that brags about supporting Flash is in fact advertising a negative feature. Flash is a step backwards and supporting Flash is merely a diversion so people can overlook your poorly designed OS. Concentrate on the user experience and quit trying to tack on "features" that are really just distractors.
Click to expand...

Unless all these video streaming sites abandon Flash completely right now, I don't see Flash dying any time soon. What's wrong with supporting a widely adopted "feature"?
You talk about user experience, well my experience is that I cannot watch gamespot.com videos on my iPad, for example. Your point?
 
Why is the lack of a feature better than giving the user the ability to turn it on or off? Look wireless is the future, like wireless charging on the touchpad or wireless streaming to you're tv or stereo with air play, or wireless syncing through wifi, but the touchpad still has a USB port to charge, the iPhone still has a component adaptor and dock port to sync. Just because something is the future doesn't mean it's good when the old tech is still standard and you completely abandon it.
 
Let's just be honest. There's no reason Apple couldn't give the users the ability to turn Flash on/off. But, by not including any Flash capabilities whatsoever, they're singlehandedly accelerating Flash's demise. Most web developers I speak to these days will advise their clients not to use any Flash components in their websites.
 
radiogoober said:
Pandora has rebuilt it's front-end in super fast HTML5, dropping support for antiquated Flash.

http://www.pandora.com/newpandora

Another nail in Flash's coffin. The more that this happens, the better.

I still stand by my statement: any competing mobile OS that brags about supporting Flash is in fact advertising a negative feature. Flash is a step backwards and supporting Flash is merely a diversion so people can overlook your poorly designed OS. Concentrate on the user experience and quit trying to tack on "features" that are really just distractors.
Click to expand...

i don't see much to celebrate here.

some of us need to use flash sites, and apple's lack of support continues to be a serious drawback, and as much as i love the pad, i am seriously considering competitors for my next upgrade. some web developers will respond to the pressure (pandora) and others, especially ones outside the us and not in the entertainment industry, will not. it sucks, because i don't want to use flash, and it sucks even more because i can't with the ipad, but it tragically sucks that i still have to. i doubt i am alone :(

is it technically difficult to put in a toggle? no. is it ideologically difficult? yes. i guess i should thank (?) steve for micromanaging my life with his obscure obsessions.
 
palpatine said:
i don't see much to celebrate here.

some of us need to use flash sites, and apple's lack of support continues to be a serious drawback, and as much as i love the pad, i am seriously considering competitors for my next upgrade. some web developers will respond to the pressure (pandora) and others, especially ones outside the us and not in the entertainment industry, will not. it sucks, because i don't want to use flash, and it sucks even more because i can't with the ipad, but it tragically sucks that i still have to. i doubt i am alone :(

is it technically difficult to put in a toggle? no. is it ideologically difficult? yes. i guess i should thank (?) steve for micromanaging my life with his obscure obsessions.
Click to expand...

You apparently have not experienced the wonder of iSwifter. Why don't you look that up on the App Store and see if that helps your cause with Flash websites.
 
thelookingglass said:
Let's just be honest. There's no reason Apple couldn't give the users the ability to turn Flash on/off. But, by not including any Flash capabilities whatsoever, they're singlehandedly accelerating Flash's demise. Most web developers I speak to these days will advise their clients not to use any Flash components in their websites.
Click to expand...

When people turn it on, they will piss and moan that the device is crap and can't handle flash. Why would Apple compromise the functionality of their iDevices for the sake of a few.

25 Million people who have bought the iPad alone are probably "Meh" with it not having flash.
 
thelookingglass said:
You apparently have not experienced the wonder of iSwifter. Why don't you look that up on the App Store and see if that helps your cause with Flash websites.
Click to expand...

great advice. i encourage everyone to give it a try. i think someone on these forums recommended it to me a while ago. unfortunately, it didn't work for all the sites. it seems to be hit or miss.

MonkeySee.... said:
When people turn it on, they will piss and moan that the device is crap and can't handle flash. Why would Apple compromise the functionality of their iDevices for the sake of a few.

25 Million people who have bought the iPad alone are probably "Meh" with it not having flash.
Click to expand...

yes. i just love this argument. the intellectual and emotional immaturity of the many outweighs the maturity of the few, or the one. a classic justification used to support a whole host of activities that take choice out of the hands of the consumers.

it isn't an argument i have heard apple make. i've only heard consumers make it to explain why it is better that they not be given any power. thankfully, other developers like google do not seem to share the low esteem you have for your fellow consumers.
 
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palpatine said:
yes. i just love this argument. the intellectual and emotional immaturity of the many outweighs the maturity of the few, or the one. a classic justification used to support a whole host of activities that take choice out of the hands of the consumers.

it isn't an argument i have heard apple make. i've only heard consumers make it to explain why it is better that they not be given any power. thankfully, other developers like google do not seem to share the low esteem you have for your fellow consumers.
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haha. boo hoo.

I personally like the way Apple operate. I know exactly what i am getting when I purchase their products and should have no complaints when it doesn't do x or y.
 
MonkeySee.... said:
haha. boo hoo.

I personally like the way Apple operate. I know exactly what i am getting when I purchase their products and should have no complaints when it doesn't do x or y.
Click to expand...

more like bah, bah. the bleating of sheep is like music to steve's ears :)

i like a lot of the things about how apple operates. i know exactly what i am getting. i would know that if there was a toggle switch too. i will complain when they provide a device that has been deliberately designed to restrict my activities (the tyranny of itunes, the lack of usb connectivity, the lack of flash, etc) and force me into their procrustean bed. apple wasn't always like this, you know, and i don't enjoy bowing to the whims of one man who wants to go out and tilt at windmills like flash.

the ipad is the best tablet device on the market today, and i have an affinity for apple products (ishuffle, ipod, ipad, macbook pro, etc.). but, tomorrow? i don't know where the pad will be in the lineup. the lack of flash is one more reason for me to reward manufacturers who are less restrictive.
 
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palpatine said:
more like bah, bah. the bleating of sheep is like music to steve's ears :)

i like a lot of the things about how apple operates. i know exactly what i am getting. i would know that if there was a toggle switch too. i will complain when they provide a device that has been deliberately designed to restrict my activities (the tyranny of itunes, the lack of usb connectivity, the lack of flash, etc) and force me into their procrustrean bed. apple wasn't always like this, you know, and i don't enjoy bowing to the whims of one man who wants to go out and tilt at windmills like flash.

the ipad is the best tablet device on the market today, and i have an affinity for apple products (ishuffle, ipod, ipad, macbook pro, etc.). but, tomorrow? i don't know where the pad will be in the lineup. the lack of flash is one more reason for me to reward manufacturers who are less restrictive.
Click to expand...

Why isn't there a "face palm" smiley on this site?
 
MonkeySee.... said:
Why isn't there a "face palm" smiley on this site?
Click to expand...

in my post that last line was the one that got the face palm? well, to each his own.

steve isn't going to change his mind about restricting my experience, and if there is a competitor willing to give me more freedom outside the apple miniverse, and they can offer me a comparable experience (no one yet, but we are getting there), then i don't know why i would keep paying steve to bind me in ropes, drip hot wax on my... oh, wait a second, steve only doesn't want that kind of stuff in his store either so i had better banish the thought :)
 
I'm sure Facebook or Youtube has done something as well because last week most of the Youtube video's which were posted on Facebook never used to play on my iPad and used to say flash is needed but now they play fine in the browser.
 
palpatine said:
yes. i just love this argument. the intellectual and emotional immaturity of the many outweighs the maturity of the few, or the one. a classic justification used to support a whole host of activities that take choice out of the hands of the consumers.

it isn't an argument i have heard apple make. i've only heard consumers make it to explain why it is better that they not be given any power. thankfully, other developers like google do not seem to share the low esteem you have for your fellow consumers.
Click to expand...

Oh my god. How on earth is not missing Flash a sign of "intellectual and emotional immaturity" and "low self esteem"?
 
radiogoober said:
Oh my god. How on earth is not missing Flash a sign of "intellectual and emotional immaturity" and "low self esteem"?
Click to expand...

The answer: Only in a bizarre world in which you take my words out of context. I was responding to the quote.

Not missing flash is totally cool. I don't have any issue with that.

I am simply pointing out that some people still use flash (by choice or not) and while you are celebrating the demise of a platform for developers and calling support for that platform a negative feature that is somehow being used to mask a low-quality OS is viewed by others (like myself) as an attempt to support consumers.

i won't miss flash when it is gone. but it is still here. and, i like it when companies design for both the present and the future instead of just for the future.
 
Flash isn't going anywhere anytime soon. Its been around since the 90's and the websites who support flash are legion.

What do you think will happen? That thousands of websites will immediately do a complete re-write of their html just for ipad users?

No, they will just do a user-agent forward to their mobile site.
 
This is history repeating itself.

Years ago, Steve Jobs didn't want to put arrow keys on Apple keyboards. This kept Macs exclusive and forced developers to choose platforms. Eventually he gave in on this and added the arrow keys, but I don't think Flash is going to go the same way as the arrow keys. I think it's going to go more how the omission of floppies went.

Because of the immense popularity of iOS, and the tendency of its users to actually buy content instead of always using free apps, developers and websites are already choosing iOS as the more lucrative platform. And that platform doesn't support Flash. If you want your content to be usable on iOS, ditch Flash. That simple.

What's in it for Apple? Not just good battery life in their devices. They also get more of your money. You can't go on websites and play free flash games anymore--you have to go to the app store and buy them. It's the old saying--if you want the truth, follow the money.
 
You guys completely miss why Steve, doesn't want Flash, it's not about video, it's not about web sites, it's about allowing Flash programs to run that circumvent the app store, it would in essence create an OS container within iOS to run other programs, and Steve can't control that, or gain any revenue. In the end it's about profit and control.
 
Spiderman0616 gets it
spiderman0616 said:
What's in it for Apple? Not just good battery life in their devices. They also get more of your money. You can't go on websites and play free flash games anymore--you have to go to the app store and buy them. It's the old saying--if you want the truth, follow the money.
Click to expand...
 
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