Yet another nail in Flash's coffin

[radiogoober]

In the last thread, we looked at how many major websites (Pandora, Facebook) are going Flash-free. Today Adobe announced the creation of a free (for now!) tool to create HTML5 websites. Adobe acknowledged that Flash was not being seen on many, many millions of mobile devices, and that Flash was becoming a thing of the past.

I have to say that I'm impressed Adobe "innovated" here and is trying to stay relevant and move along with the times.

I predict a 50% decrease in the prevalence of Flash within the next year. I predict that in 18 months a further 50% decrease in Flash websites, and that by then the primary websites that will use Flash will be small-time local websites that have been neglected (yeah they're cobweb sites, tsss, tssss) or otherwise poorly designed.


http://gizmodo.com/5826448/adobe-ditches-flash-for-adobe-edge

 

[itsalexaye]

its also important to note that Adobe has also lost all the original developers and coders of flash, therefore it is really out of date.

 

[vrDrew]

I think a lot of people have tried to cast the whole Flash-on-the-web thing as "Apple vs. Adobe." This is a huge oversimplification, to the point of being factually incorrect.

The fact of the matter is that in virtually any form of technology, periodically a point is reached at which "legacy" methods and formats become obsolete, and can no longer be supported. (Tried buying leaded gasoline for your '69 Dodge Charger recently?)

That is IMHO the case with Flash. What was a very effective method of delivering full-motion video and animated web-content in a world dominated by the mouse-and-keyboard interface, simply isn't practical in a world that is increasingly adopting touchscreen portable devices.

I too applaud Adobe for "seeing the writing on the wall" when it comes to Flash. Adobe - and the developers who use its products - will be better served by a dedication to better tools to create useful web-content, rather than dogmaticly clinging to a proprietary (and dying) format.

 

[Acorn]

adobe holds a chair along with microsoft and many others for html 5. adobe has been holding progress in the finalization of html5 for a long time because it competes with flash. however i think they are really starting to feel the pressure

 

[darngooddesign]

In the last thread, we looked at how many major websites (Pandora, Facebook) are going Flash-free. Today Adobe announced the creation of a free (for now!) tool to create HTML5 websites. Adobe acknowledged that Flash was not being seen on many, many millions of mobile devices, and that Flash was becoming a thing of the past. .

It is not a tool to make HTML websites, it is an animation tool that will make delivering really annoying ads to iOS that much easier. Adobe is trying to stay relevant to advertising providers. This has zero support for ActionScript and advanced interactivity so contrary to your assertion, it is not a tool for website design.

Radiogoober mast really love annoying web ads because all of the technologies he points out as an indication of Flash's demise make delivering those ads to iOS that much easier.

Rather than making iOS better, these tools will make it that much worse.

Enjoy.

 

[tstarks33]

Oh great, another flash thread. Yes, we know - flash development is decreasing. No one disputes this and it's hardly controversial to say as much.

 

[fabian9]

This looks like a really good and easy to use tool. I'm glad to see that Adobe is slowly but surely moving away from Flash, about time!

 

[itsalexaye]

This looks like a really good and easy to use tool. I'm glad to see that Adobe is slowly but surely moving away from Flash, about time!

they dont want to lose the huge user base of people using iDevices.

 

[radiogoober]

This looks like a really good and easy to use tool. I'm glad to see that Adobe is slowly but surely moving away from Flash, about time!

Yup. Pretty crazy. The same company that makes Flash is making a tool to obviate it.

 

[xraytech]

I'm drawing a broad generalization her, the average person doesn't care that Flash is going the way of the Dinosaur. All they know is that iOS can't play Flash and they are annoyed by it.

No more threads like this please.

 

[tstarks33]

I'm drawing a broad generalization her, the average person doesn't care that Flash is going the way of the Dinosaur. All they know is that iOS can't play Flash and they are annoyed by it.

No more threads like this please.

I'm pretty surprised we are still having flash threads. I thought we got it out of our system over the last few years since, you know, ios has been around for years and the flash argument has been beaten into the ground numerous times. I guess these new people want to have their bite at the ... apple.

 

[radiogoober]

I'm drawing a broad generalization her, the average person doesn't care that Flash is going the way of the Dinosaur. All they know is that iOS can't play Flash and they are annoyed by it.

No more threads like this please.

Actually the average person doesn't know what Flash is. The faster these mom n pop legacy websites drop it, thenbetter for everyone's browsing "experience."

 

[darngooddesign]

Actually the average person doesn't know what Flash is. The faster these mom n pop legacy websites drop it, thenbetter for everyone's browsing "experience."

Your browsing experience will be worse now that edge can push annoying ads to iOS. It's not like an ad blocker will ever be approved in the app store. Enjoy your horrid flashy-blinky ads.

 

[kdarling]

Actually the average person doesn't know what Flash is.

They know when they need it. My 8 year old learned back when she was only two, that princess oriented sites like Disney needed Flash.

Whenever she was on a different computer and saw the little Adobe box come up, she'd go "Dad! We need Flash on here!"

The faster these mom n pop legacy websites drop it, thenbetter for everyone's browsing "experience."

Mom and pop? Sites like Moshi Monsters have 50 million registered users and are worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Heck, Disney's kids' section was Flash-only until recently, and its HTML version isn't anywhere near as interactive.

Unfortunately, there's no such thing as an HTML5 replacement for what these sites can easily do with Flash... unless this new Adobe tool can help.

It's ironic that people make fun of Adobe trying to create such tools, while Apple... who claims to be supporting HTML5... can't even be bothered to come out with anything to help developers use it.

 

[Tarzanman]

Wow. You guys have no clue. HTML 5 won't replace flash for animations for at least 3 years (probably more). The scripting tools alone make flash much easier (and more ubiquitous) than some half-approved web spec.

 

[silverblack]

I am a proud iPad owner, but am also glad that I have an Asus Transformer (Android tablet) to catch up with TV episodes on megavideos. I don't care whether there is a future for flash tomorrow, all I care is whether I'll be able to enjoy videos in flash today whenever I feel like it.

 

[Carouser]

Unfortunately, there's no such thing as an HTML5 replacement for what these sites can easily do with Flash

Fortunately, Apple also has an 'app store' which a website with 50 million users and worth hundreds of millions of dollars might want to look into.

 

[DeathChill]

I am a proud iPad owner, but am also glad that I have an Asus Transformer (Android tablet) to catch up with TV episodes on megavideos. I don't care whether there is a future for flash tomorrow, all I care is whether I'll be able to enjoy videos in flash today whenever I feel like it.

Why not just use iSwifter or SkyFire on the iPad?

 

[silverblack]

Why not just use iSwifter or SkyFire on the iPad?

Because they don't work. Try them yourself.

 

[kdarling]

Fortunately, Apple also has an 'app store' which a website with 50 million users and worth hundreds of millions of dollars might want to look into.

You're right, and iPad app availability does come up on forums from time to time.

From the website's standpoint of course, the usual questions are:

• How many 8-12 year old kids would use an iPad to access the site?
• How easily can the Flash be converted to an app? How easy to keep updated?
• Currently the site doesn't have to share millions of ~$5 monthly fees with anyone else. That's part of their worth.

 

[darngooddesign]

Why not just use iSwifter or SkyFire on the iPad?

While they get the job done, its not the best overall solution. There is some lag, the browsers are ugly, and the frame rate is pretty low.

 

[fertilized-egg]

While they get the job done, its not the best overall solution. There is some lag, the browsers are ugly, and the frame rate is pretty low.

And that's exactly what happens when you run large Flash animated site on a tablet. Another poster above mentioned "Moshi Monsters" and if you try it on an Android device or PlayBook, you'll quickly see that while it works, it's really not something you want to use it if you can help it. Ditto for Youtube Flash.

Flash on a mobile device can help you to see the content if you really really need to see something, but to have a lag-free experience with high frame rate? You need the native app.

Because they don't work. Try them yourself.

Yes exactly what I want to say too. Again, whenever a poster tries to use a specific site as an example of why the iPad needs a tablet, I usually find the site run with lag and low frame rate on my Android and PlayBook. If anything, those sites are exactly the reasons why you don't want Flash on your mobile device and encourage developers to create native apps.

 

[kevinof]

Ok So I read your post and thought maybe you're right maybe not. To see for myself I asked my eight year old to take me through moshi monsters on the asus transformer. We played for about 30 minutes and there was zero lag. It worked perfectly - Now he (my 8 year old) is very fussy when it comes to lag, lack of speed and other things that we all hate on computers) but he loves it on the transformer so much so that he no longer uses the notebook.

Now I don't know what android tablet you used but certainly the transformer had no problem running the flash game. I was very impressed with the speed and lack of lag.

And that's exactly what happens when you run large Flash animated site on a tablet. Another poster above mentioned "Moshi Monsters" and if you try it on an Android device or PlayBook, you'll quickly see that while it works, it's really not something you want to use it if you can help it. Ditto for Youtube Flash.

Flash on a mobile device can help you to see the content if you really really need to see something, but to have a lag-free experience with high frame rate? You need the native app.



Yes exactly what I want to say too. Again, whenever a poster tries to use a specific site as an example of why the iPad needs a tablet, I usually find the site run with lag and low frame rate on my Android and PlayBook. If anything, those sites are exactly the reasons why you don't want Flash on your mobile device and encourage developers to create native apps.