First, let me state that I do not hate Apple. In fact, I love Macs and prefer to use them over any other device. I’m writing this on a MacBookPro.
Second, I’m a Flash Designer. And I love it. I love the feeling of freedom to create that Flash has given me over the years.
Third, I spend way more time on the internet than most people would ever care admit.
Now, the internet is made up of many moving components all contributing in some way to the experience users have on it. One of which is Adobe Flash Player.
Like it or not, Flash (version 8+) is on 99% of the Mature Market’s computers world-wide. It is beginning to find its way onto your desktops through AIR applications. Flash drives many of the most popular online destinations. 70% of online games and video is driven with Flash. It is so integrated into the internet that it has become not only a piece but an integral gear in the system that most of what you see on a daily basis on the internet is powered with Flash. How else could you watch last week’s episode of The Office on your laptop? Or play FickleBlox on your cell phone? Or navigate through one of Nike’s mini-sites? Or spend hours playing games at OMGPop? You couldn’t.
Then comes the Ipad (purposefully mis-cased here), Apple’s proclaimed savior of the netbook, mobile internet realm.
Steve Jobs said this about the Ipad in his keynote/reveal speech today: “It’s the best web experience you’ve ever had.”
Well, I call “BULLSHIT.”
How can someone say that one device has the best internet viewing experience when it doesn’t have one of the most prevalent, wide-spread, and valuable elements? Could a grocer say they have the best produce ever if they purposefully refuse stock their shelves with over 70 percent of it then mock you in their commercial with images of empty aisles?
Do you really want your internet to look like this?
No? I didn’t think so.
There are others out there that feel the same way.
Peter Elst (@PeterElst) has a good post on the matter.
Ralph Hauwert (a.k.a. @UnitZeroOne) has a great letter to Steve Jobs.
In a tweet earlier Jesse Freeman (a.k.a. @TheFlashBum) said something that resonated with me: “This is the year for #Flash optimization. On #Adobe’s side & on the Dev’s side. We all need to learn how to do more with less!” (Although, Jesse doesn’t necessarily feel the same about Flash on Apple devices. Don’t get him started.)
Agreed. We want optimization in both our own work and from Adobe’s Flash Player. But we also want our work to be seen on as many devices as possible and by as many people as possible. We’re narcissistic that way.
And THAT is what this is all about.
This is about getting the fruits of our labors to our users on as many platforms, devices, screens and in the hands of as many people as we possibly can. We want the liberty to showcase our work without being restricted by one man/company so cocky, stubborn and invested in the interest of keeping pockets fat (not MY pockets, though) by limiting use of fully interactive content through their own app store. This is about the arrogance of such a large company that portrays themselves as a leader and the “best” in the technology field and yet blatantly denies their users one of the key elements to that very universe.
We – the content creators, Flash Designers and Developers – are basically being bullied into not being allowed to share our work with you – the users – on any device you own wether you are at home, at work, lounging back in that cozy chair at the coffee shop, on the bus, or sitting on the toilet. We want you to have fun. We want you to experience more than just what one company says you can, even if it is on their device. We want to create, to innovate, to push the limits of the internet to every piece of hardware available (even those not out yet). We want to be as ubiquitous as the internet itself but are being denied that opportunity.
Now I can almost hear what you’re saying. So I’ll preemptively rebut.
- “The Ipad won’t have the power to handle Flash’s CPU usage and battery consumption. Even Flash’s performance on OSX is poor.”
- The point can be made for the iPhone/iPod that Flash would just not run nicely on those devices. Granted. But they don’t have the same power as what the Ipad touts. Plus, I, for one, wouldn’t want the same site/app/game I create for desktop/laptop web viewing with Flash to run through Mobile Safari and those poor screens. The iPad supposedly contains a “custom-designed, high-performance” 1GHz chip. Plenty capable to run many Flash sites and games. Plus, have you seen what Adobe’s Flash Player team is coming up with with FP 10.1? Have you downloaded the beta SDK and player? Have you run comparison tests? If you have, then you’ve probably noticed a drastic drop in memory consumption and CPU cycles. Sure it is still in beta, but from what I’ve seen so far, I am damn hopeful.
-”HTML5 is going to be so much better than Flash.”
- Different discussion entirely, so save it.
-”Well, I don’t want to see those annoying, ugly Flash banners on sites.”
- OK, I’ll give you that. They can be quite annoying and poorly built/coded. But also know that those Flash ads are another way you get to visit most of your favorite sites. Ad revenue. If it wasn’t for the money, you wouldn’t even get the chance to type in Hulu.com because it wouldn’t even be there.
-”Apple wants to keep hold of their precious UI and UX.”
- If this really was the case then why not prohibit HTML, PHP, JavaScript, and other countless web development standards? Shit, why not just convert all web sites to plain text with a font of Apple’s choosing, on a background Apple creates, in a shell that Apple designs? Then Apple can be sure no one creates anything that might look/work differently than their Ipad/iPod/iPhone.
Let’s face it. The internet would be bland without Flash. And the internet on the Ipad will be bland without it, too.
So until we see Flash on the device please join me in saying: “FUCK the Ipad.”
**You can catch me on twitter if you want to yell at me live: @AntonioHolguin
