I dislike Flash. I dislike it quite a lot actually. I’m not sure I’d go so far as to say I hate it, but I’m for sure not a fan in any way, shape or form
Why?
For a few reasons actually. However one of the reasons is not because I’m an Apple fan boy (that part is at least true) and clearly Steve Jobs hates Flash and seems to be waging a personal war against it.
No I dislike it, because of the way it’s used either for annoying adverts or creating entire web sites. We have tools for creating web sites, it’s called HTML and CSS. We even have tools for making sites interactive now, called Javascript and DOM (Document Object Model). I’m not against using Flash where it’s needed, for video playback or for highly interactive parts of sites where speed of response is very important. However for that last point Javascript is better and better and hence the need for Flash is getting less. However it seems that many web designers don’t see this and they keep on designing sites with the tools they know and that seems to be Flash.
This is another problem I have with Flash, it’s basic design comes very much from early days of the web (1996!). In those days it’s design was good for the jobs that it did. The web however has changed hugely since then and while extra functionality has been added on, Flash is still at it’s heart stuck in those early days of the web.
I’m sure this is why it’s performance is beginning to become an issue. It’s also why despite 64 bit operating systems having been in the around for a while and now making there way in the mainstream, Flash is still only 32 bit.
I think it’s time that Adobe redesigned Flash from the ground up! I can however see why they don’t. Such a job would be a huge undertaking, would take a very long time and of course be very expensive. And from Adobes point of view, why do it, when Flash does the job?
Well it does now, just about do the job, but it is being caught up with and in some cases overtaken by other technologies. This is only going to continue, so Adobe have to do something to keep Flash relevant to the web, before it’s to late.
I think it is already to late. By the time Adobe could redesign Flash, I think the competing technologies will have overtaken the market for this sort of plugin will almost have disappeared.
So are there any alternatives now?
Yes! Microsoft’s Sliverlight is here now in a good solid, usable form and it’s been designed with the modern web in mind. It’s also cross platform and backed by the might of Microsoft. I think it’s pretty good too, not that I’ve really played with it yet. The problem is that it’s not making a lot of an impact right now. The problem is that it lacks is the sort of integrated development environment that Flash has. Also of course Flash is pretty entrenched.
There is of course Apples own QuickTime, which is so much more than a video player and has lots of interactive stuff built in to it. It could be made in to a Flash killer, if Apple wanted it to. It appears that they don’t. I think that Apple can see where things are going and don’t want to waste there time.
With modern web technologies (HTML 5, CSS 3 and Javascript) the need for this sort of add on is getting less and less. Now I know that full support for these young standards is a long way off. HTML 5 isn’t even a full standard yet, they are still working it out. But when support becomes widespread (maybe 4 or 5 years?) Flash is going to find it’s self fighting a war it can’t win. These technologies being built in to the browser will always be faster than a plugin and more stable too. All that it will need is for someone to produce a good integrated development environment and Flash will on it’s death bed.
And I for one will not be sad to see it go. It’s had a good run, but it is time for the web to move on now.
Feb
13
2010
