Dropping a Stone and Watching the Ripples
My post yesterday on the Flash v. HTML 5 “debate” managed to get this blog a lot more eyeballs than it’s had in years – probably since 2003 if I’m honest. And yeah, that was kinda fun – I haven’t really stirred up a hornets nest like that in a long time. What I really appriciated was that some people actually wanted to TALK about the issue and just yell over each other. I actually learned a lot from the discussion – both in terms of better understanding other’s views and in finding out about some pretty damn cool projects.
On the views side – I heard from a Flash “hater” that was very, very clear in why he disliked Flash down to a use-by-use level. He’s on linux, and while that is a distant minority platform, his experience with Flash has been appalling and I totally understand his frustration. When Automata builds Flash-based projects we always work to provide the best solution we can for users who can’t or don’t want to run Flash, but this is far from a universal technique. To see or do many things online you just HAVE to have Flash – many times when it, quite frankly, makes no damn sense (I’m looking at you Chipotle, and no, you don’t get a link). I think we, as Flash developers, need to advocate better for the PROPER use of Flash – since quite frankly, every bad use of Flash makes all of us, and our favorite platform look bad in the eyes of a growing number of users.
On the project site, one of the most interesting projects that was brought to my attention was Raphaël – a JavaScript library that wraps up the various vector drawing/animation functionalities present in modern browsers (VML in IE and SVG in everything else) into a single library that works just about everywhere. It looks quite easy to use and it is quite suitable for production work (as evidenced by this site for the the new Nissan Leaf).
So, assuming that most of the times people have bad experiences with flash it’s because it’s being used inappropriately, I wonder why it seems to be inappropriately used more often (or in more noticeable ways) than other technologies (languages, markup, whatever). Maybe it’s just that flash content is identifiable and no one is going to blame JavaScript, in general, for a bad web page. Or maybe it’s that flash dev tools make it much easier for the developer, which makes it the tool of choice even in cases where it may not be the best choice from the end user’s perspective. I’m really curious.
Now if you really want to pull in more page views and comments you could weigh in on what Steve Jobs said.
April 29th, 2010 at 8:05 pmI think other people have answered Mr. Jobs better than I could. I just find it silly, so all I did was make fun of the whole thing: http://vimeo.com/11337728
April 29th, 2010 at 8:08 pm“as Flash developers, need to advocate better for the PROPER use of Flash…”
Haven’t you guys been saying this for about 10 years now? Why isn’t it working, or is it?
June 18th, 2010 at 12:45 pmI believe that you are spot on when you suggested, “I think we, as Flash developers, need to advocate better for the PROPER use of Flash – since quite frankly, every bad use of Flash makes all of us, and our favorite platform look bad in the eyes of a growing number of users.”, is the solution.
The only problem is that every Tom, Dick and Harry out there who consider themselves FREELANCERS, who have no clue how to truly program with the language just have a fair rate, and people are always willing to pay for less.
I can’t imagine (arbitrary named hair salon) wants to truly spend 120k on their website. That is where Bob comes in. He charges $20 an hour or quotes the project to be $300.
I use to believe that even big agencies could solve the HTML 5 vs Flash Crisis by exactly the same thought as yourself, but deadlines are just as strict in this industry and sometimes we do what we do so we can see our families and eat dinner.
I am a flash developer and it sucks to say it, but the truth is that we as Flash developers helped to sink the ship. On a flip side, I don’t believe that this will be the end of Flash. Flash still has practical applications where HTML 5 would not best fit that. Like SCORM Complience Tests, and desktop apps. There are plenty of things that HTML 5 can do, but will the internet be any different from the already flash flooded one of which we know? Absolutely not. We are always going to want more and more, bigger and badder, cooler and cooler, more 3d, more realism. So the in your face web sites that have no way to easily find what you are looking for will remain. We are the MTV generation who grew up on commercials that make absolutely no sense but hey did you see how cool it was?
The one thing I don’t understand why some people are sooooo, for one or the other. If HTML 5 wins, I’ll either bow my head in submission, remove my fedora and crack open another book, or wash boats. Hell its not like any flash developer who considers themselves good is someone who was classically trained at college.
Sorry for any run on sentences and typos
June 28th, 2010 at 1:51 pm-ben