

One year after iPad: Is Adobe Flash still relevant? - Garbage
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/perlow/one-year-after-ipad-is-adobe-flash-still-relevant/16967

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citricsquid
I have yet to see anything come close to the power of Flash for interactive
content creation. I find it humorous when people release things done with
HTML5 and everyone says "whoa this is amazing" which is true, but it's been
possible since some of the earliest versions of Flash.

It will take a lot more than the ipad to kill Flash, it will take people to
build alternate tools that allow easy creation of interactive content... not a
device that doesn't support the _standard_ (standard is in italics because it
isn't technically the standard, but it's what lots of people use, the majority
anyway)

An example of this from today:
[http://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/h1mc6/interacti...](http://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/h1mc6/interactive_html5_canvas_demonstration_of/)
and then
[http://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/h1mc6/interacti...](http://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/h1mc6/interactive_html5_canvas_demonstration_of/c1ry9sd)

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kenjackson
Flash is still the gold standard.

I'm still surprised that there isn't a more concerted effort to get Flash on
more devices. HTML 5 is literally almost a decade behind Flash (Flash 7 feels
like the closest, which was 2003).

The HTML standards body just moves too slow (basically all standards bodies
do, its the nature of the beast). Look at how Silverlight has changed since
its been released, compared to HTML.

I'm personally a fan of the plugin model in general. I feel like the only
thing browsers should have is HTML/CSS and a way to talk to the DOM (maybe
treat the DOM as a RESTful service). And then plugins that can be hosted for
things like Javascript, C#, Flash, etc...

~~~
rimantas

      > HTML 5 is literally almost a decade behind Flash
    

It's not about Flash vs. HTML5 as many think. It's about flash vs. native
apps.

~~~
statictype
I disagree.

Once devices that don't support Flash become pervasive enough, everyone will
have to write their flash-based web sites to support them. For most sites,
this would mean using HTML5 (or related technologies), not writing a separate
app that would require a developer license, approval, forking the codebase,
etc...

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jmspring
Seems like the answer is -- "no" for mobile. Sure, there has been an
announcement about hardware acceleration, but how many of the existing
handsets will be able to take advantage of this? There are a few components to
this question -- 1) hardware capability; 2) manufacturer support for an
upgraded OS; 3) the carrier willing to push it.

Fact is, with all the android devices out there, Flash is a joke. Initial
impressions are proving Steve Jobs right, future technical advances will have
a steep slope to prove otherwise.

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webwright
Um, yeah-- it sure is.

50% of Facebook logins are specifically to play games. Most of those games are
Flash. (source: [http://socialtimes.com/facebook-gamers-hours-per-
month_b2415...](http://socialtimes.com/facebook-gamers-hours-per-month_b24156)
)

~~~
frossie
Well the question is whether people mind. For example most web content aimed
at kids is flash-based (pbskids etc) so you can't play those on the iPad; but
then if you have an iPad there are many equivalent native games that you can
use for the same purposes. I am sure the same is the case for adult games. If
you have 15 minutes to wait for the dentist, do you care whether you are
playing a Facebook game or Plants v. Zombies on your phone? Either way, it
helps pass the time.

~~~
xiaoma
What's your replacement for sites like Kongregate or Newgrounds, where
literally hundreds of new games show up every month, and you can just jump in
and try them out at a whim and socialize with others doing the same? I don't
mean this sarcastically, I'd love to have anything remotely that nice when on
my iPod touch.

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mitjak
That was a very long-winded way of saying "I don't really know. What do you
think?"

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becomevocal
Relevant? Yes.

Future Proof? No. (At least for the general web.)

Yet, I see a very bright future for Adobe. +1 for CS5.5 PhoneGap integration
and subscription pricing.

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ludicast
Flash not being on the iPad has nothing to do with its instability. It has to
do with Steve Jobs wanting to control the App Store 100%. People being able to
run Flash Apps gives a means for them to go around Apple's back and not give
Apple money.

The fact is that JS/Canvas is where Flash was 8 years ago. And when they
finally finalize the HTML5 spec Flash will be someplace else again.

Flash runs fine on my Nook Color, without destroying it. Eventually the
competing tablets might coax Apple to embrace Flash at some point. Or not...

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tintin
_"Apple refuses to spend the time and due diligence with Adobe to fully
optimize it correctly.

Unfortunately, as I have noted earlier, Google is also 100 percent guilty of
this as well."_

It all depends on how Adobe is willing to adapt. It's easy to blame Google and
Apple because we only know one side of the story. Linux sources are available
but the Flashplayer still sucks on Linux. Android sources are also available.
So I'm not sure about the 100%.

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RexRollman
Personally speaking, I consider the lack of Flash to be a feature; not a bug.

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sciurus
I just watched President Obama's speech live using a flash-based player. I
don't know of a to perform live streaming with HTML5.

~~~
tjogin
On an iOS device, HTTP streaming would be the way (other clients like VLC
support it too).

[http://arstechnica.com/web/news/2009/07/apple-proposes-
http-...](http://arstechnica.com/web/news/2009/07/apple-proposes-http-
streaming-feature-as-a-protocol-standard.ars)

It's got nothing to do with HTML5 though, which I think is a good thing.

