Friday 4 June 2010

Flash - my opinion: Adobe shall have to reinvent Flash in order to save it

[Post published by Liviu on Liviu's [Computer Science] Blog]

This post is about Flash - my opinion:

There's an entire discussion on whether to support or not Flash. Google (at I/O 2010 for example) picks on Apple for not supporting Flash... well, I'd say Apple announced this too early, just that. If Apple had only waited some 1-2 years, it would have been ok.
Oh, and they can't just ignore Flash when launching something [ugly, useless, expensive] like the... iPad.
Why was it only later that Steve Jobs provided a full reasoning?

I must admit that Eric Schmidt is kind of evil in the Google I/O 2010: Google TV Keynote, Day 2 - CEO Partner Panel - we all know that HTML 5 will kind of make Flash obsolete. If you've read my 2009 I/O post, you've probably watched the I/O 2009 Day 1 Keynote which talks about offering pixel level control in-the-browser... right? (Anyway, start watching again at 18:31)

Also, in last year's keynote - this is going to be SO FUN!...

Skip to 19:08 and listen the reasoning with respect to the Canvas... [...] just use silverlight, vml or flash... but what if we wanted something that was part of the open and transparent internet that we know and love? Now, is it just me hearing this or has Mr. Gundrotta just said Flash was not open and transparent in 2009? :))

19:48 - drawing and animation APIs with pixel level control.
Now, what will Flash be used for? I don't know.

You can stop at 29:50.

Hey, watch another demo of in-the-browser capabilities - nothing fancy, just...
The Quake II GWT port brings the 3d gaming experience of Quake II to the browser. 
And the video... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhMN0wlITLk
Cool? I'd say yes.


Conclusion

Now, tell me, what shall we need Flash for?
I don't know. Not now. Maybe later I can come up with some ideas.

I say that Adobe shall have to reinvent Flash in order to save it. Until then, it must be supported - Apple should have supported it, and Google is [almost] right when picking on Apple. However, if Google supports Flash now and ensures that Flash shall not be reinvented... :D... then Flash shall disappear in the next 2 years...
I still wonder on whose side Google is...

2 comments:

andreiolaru said...

Man, we all know Flash sucks. You know I always hated flash and, for instance, always designed my sites in HTML+CSS (oh, or maybe it was because I didn't bother to learn Flash... oh well, details).

Flash was bound to die, and I believe anything else than HTML5 (if HTML5 is well standardized and used) is bound to die (here referring Silverlight and others). As it has always been: different technologies emerge, the most open and flexible one imposes itself as a standard.

This is standards. This is uniformity. That is how the future is built.


On a second note, I would point out that it is nice that HTML5 is imposing itself (should it actually do) as a standard, considering it is build by an organization dedicated to standardization - the W3C - unlike other de-facto standards, for instance Ethernet, TCP/IP, or USB.


Finally, Apple happened to be right. As ou say, a bit too early. But they should really make their position related to different aspects more clear and understandable by anyone else than Steve Jobs himself. Like App Store admission, and design choices.

Liviu said...

I think Steve Jobs likes to be first and then, some 2 years later, to tell everyone: See, told ya' guys!