I personally would like Flash as an option, if nothing else. I have visited plenty of sites on the iPad (away from my MBP) where I have wanted to watch a video and could not. I accept that it won't happen given Apples' vitriolic attacks on it and their support of HTML 5 but it would be nice to have in a pinch
Several alternatives for viewing videos have been spelled out in this discussion, and I do agree: the world will be a better place when all videos are viewable on all computers.
I'm hoping the quarter-billion Flash-free iOS device threshold will be a wake-up call for sites that are not yet Flash-free. Continuing to have content that is only viewable with Flash will have an increasingly negative impact on their business. I'll repeat something I've said before: this is a tremendous business opportunity for Adobe developers to go into those businesses and create a solution that will work Flash-free.
Because I don't see Yahoo spending the money so IOS players can play free games, your no-brainer seems illogical in my humble opinion.
What is Yahoo doing to get revenue for games that users play on their website? Why wouldn't that same revenue model work if they cross-built their games for iOS?
If that revenue model doesn't work, how about a different one? $2 or $3 for a game that someone regularly plays wouldn't be too steep, right?
Exactly. If I ever came across some website that I was interested in, and it was Flash only, then they would simply lose me as a viewer/customer/whatever. I'm not going to run some crappy ancient technology on my Mac or portable just to please them. They can serve me. Luckily I don't deal in any garbage that requires flash though. All the websites I visit don't use flash.
I agree with this strategy: this will be the solution to expunging Flash from the mainstream web. One thing I would add is to contact business that are relying on Flash and tell them that a quarter-billion Apple handheld computers cannot access their website -- let them know there's a problem. You could even tell them that Adobe themselves is recommending they
ditch their Flash code and go with an HTML-only solution.
I do this with businesses I care about, and I'm gentle when I tell them this. I presume the sites had some consultant or outside business give them the Flash code. Flash on websites might have made good business sense a few years ago, but those days have passed.
Bottom line is there is a lot of content out there in Flash still and you aint seein it on your ipad. So, call it what you will, but the ipad browser just can't hang with everything right now. If you deny this keep kidding yourself - by all means
I look it from the other side:
The bottom line is that there are a whole bunch of handheld computers -- over a quarter of a billion -- that ain't seein your Flash-only content on their iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch. So, call it what you will, but your business website just can't hang with everyone right now. There's a quarter-billion hole in your website strategy. If you deny this keep kidding yourself - by all means.
"Bottom line" is most people don't care on mobile. Less than 5% of Android users have cared enough to install Flash. Why should those of us who choose not to use Flash have a worse experience because of the 5% who do?
Oops. BaldiMac is right: the hole is a lot bigger than a quarter-billion devices. Many Android devices are also Flash-free -- although the exact number is far more difficult to quantify. And @BaldiMac has been careful to note that some Android users could be getting Flash through alternative distribution channels.
I think it's safe to say that there are over 100,000,000 Android devies that are also Flash-free.
What do you think about pages that direct you to iOS specific pages? I've had good and bad experiences. Ie, when I buy something on eBay, and go to pay for it via PayPal, I love the iPad version of the site. I think it's super user friendly and looks nice. But I've seen other iOS specific pages and just wish it wouldn't force me to look at them.
Such iOS-specific pages are also failing to recognize the growing number of laptop and desktop users that are also going Flash-free. Flash is not shipped with OS X Lion; many users will not go and manually install the software. Other users have gone back and removed Adobe products from their Macs and PCs. And what about @BaldiMac's observation that many Android users have never ever installed Flash?
Whether or not the landing page is competent, assuming that iOS devices are the only ones that are Flash-free sounds like a terrible idea. IMHO, sites that provide an HTML solution should go ahead and use it everywhere.
And I got an Ipad 2 for my 70 year old father's birthday. Was over at the flat this weekend and went through my regular tech support routine. He tells me hey son this website doesnt work take a look - he loads up the website and sees CLICK HERE TO INSTALL FLASH! and he keeps touching it and nothing happens. I explain to him also this is just apple's world, flash doenst work. His response was, what the hell i thought this was the best device on the market.
You could have answered a completely different way:
- Based on all sorts of measures, he has indeed gotten the best device on the market.
- Apple could have included Flash, but Flash has all sorts of problems on handheld devices. My point is that you've set up your father to think that everything would have been perfect if Apple had just included Flash; and that just ain't so.
- Computers are designed to work together with standards, and they don't always work together.
I think the last point is most important. We will never be to the land of milk and honey; there will always be rough edges on the web. It's not the user's fault, and it's so darn useful to realize that asking for help is less about a dumb user than rough edges in computing.
I also had to explain to him he can't realy do anything with most of the file attachements he's recieving in his email because there's no file system available on the ipad.
Goodreader should be able to handle virtually any attachment that your father gets in e-mail. Please get a copy installed on his machine.
If Flash really is important to him, you can try one of the Flash intermediaries discussed here. I wouldn't bother, but YMMV.
He likes it overall because it does everything else well especially for reading but he is convinced that long term people will catch on and be irritated by this closed system of apples. This is coming from a 70 year old man complaining to me that its missing certain functions.
I think you came in with a particular attitude and your attitude leaked onto him. You could just as well have come in with a "can do" attitude, too.
Philosophically, you may feel that the functions in Goodreader (or other read-everything apps) should be provided by Apple. I think a strong case could be made for that. As a practical matter, the simple solution is to just spend the $4.99 for this software.
Different strokes for different folks. This is macrumors so it's expected to have a higher percentage of fanboys. But personally - I would prefer to have the choice, and a toggle to turn it on or off.
I don't know how you define a fanboy. FWIW, I have yet to find a single person who agrees with every decision made by Apple. In any case, what you will find on macrumors who have knowledge, enthusiasm, and a "can do" attitude about solving problems.
My main sadness is that you left your father with a different attitude, and that will affect how he uses his machine and the internet in general. The good news: nothing is permanent and you can alter that perception. Getting goodreader (or one of the other read-anything iOS apps) for him would be a great start.
HTH.