Why Flash is not Important
Posted by Andrew | Filed under iPad, iPhone
When Apple originally introduced the iPhone at MacWorld in 2007, many people were unhappy about it’s initial lack of support for Flash. Many though it would be added by launch later that year, and then again with the introductions of the iPhone 3G and 3GS. So far, it hasn’t come and with the introduction of the iPad, another device with no Flash support, it doesn’t look like Flash is coming to the Apple mobile platform. And that is a good thing.
I watch a lot of video on my MacBook Pro. H.264 files run without issue as do XVid or any other codec I run through VLC. Even Silverlight, a competitor to Flash made by Microsoft, has no problem running on my machine (NetFlix streaming in the browser uses Silverlight). And yet, every time I wish to watch any show or video on either YouTube or hulu, it always sounds like there is a jet taking off of my desk. Why on earth does Flash need so many CPU cycles?
Now that HTML 5 is finally starting to come into the spotlight and may actually become certified within the next year, Flash is dead anyway. Dave Hyatt is one of the lead developers of HTML 5 and the person responsible for such things as the Safari web browser, found on Macs, iPhones, and the iPad. The new standard will allow videos to be played within the web browser without the need for additional plug-ins. Finally, it won’t feel like we’re surfing the web in 1997 anymore.
Flash would add a whole level of complication to the iPhone and iPad that just isn’t necessary anymore. With the new HTML standard, and things like H.264 streaming video like what the YouTube application on the iPhone currently uses, Flash is just a big bloated memory hog that will crash your phone and cause problems. How many times has your browser, whether it be IE or Firefox or even Safari crashed when you were trying to use a website with Flash? And doesn’t Flash encourage bad habits like annoying background music and unnecessary website intro videos?
And don’t get me started on entire web sites built in Flash. At some point, the people depending on Flash for the functionality of their sites will have to give in to the heavy hand of Apple and move to more elegant and simple solutions for their web sites. And hopefully, that will mean that HTML 5 can be put on the fast track to certification.
