Posts tagged Flash
Why HTML5 is proving to be a viable Flash alternative
Jun 1st
Mat Diss, co-founder and director of mobile web company bemoko, weighs in on the Apple versus Flash debate and explains why HTML5 is a great tool for creating content rich sites.
I have been following with a wry smile the escalation of Adobe’s row with Apple over the ability to deliver Flash to the iPhone. It’s like watching a couple fighting for the duvet whilst the house is on fire. Why? Because HTML5 has arrived and effectively renders (if you’ll pardon the pun) Adobe’s argument moot, which is great for Apple, but it also questions the validity of Apple’s belief in a primarily app based approach to delivering mobile content to users.
HTML5 is capable of delivering the rich internet experience for mobiles, crucial of course for brand penetration. So is this is the end of Flash? It may take some time before HTML5 reaches the capabilities of Flash, even with Apple’s objections, but it is a great tool for creating content rich sites without using Flash.
So, what is so special about HTML5 and how is that going to elevate the mobile web experience for the end-user? The answer is it delivers video and audio, enhanced graphics, geolocation, contextual menus and drag & drop to mention just a few.
A key aim for any marketer is to ensure customers remain engaged with the brand both on and offline. A key benefit of native applications (desktop or mobile) is the ability to interact with the application whilst you are offline, yet despite the much vaunted success of Apple’s app model, the truth is most apps still need to pull down live data from the internet to work properly. HTML5 now delivers this capability and adds offline storage so any web application can request and deliver essential information that a user would want to access anywhere, anytime, quickly and reliably, even if you are on the Tube, on a plane, or in a foreign country on an expensive data plan.
The media support on HTML5 also means video and audio is easily accessible and more pleasurable for the user. There is enhanced, dynamic graphics, providing the opportunity to add a new dimension and interactivity to web sites and the geolocation facility creates numerous point-of-sale opportunities.
HTML5 will become the defacto standard for creating cross-platform applications, and not just for marketing, it will form the essential foundation for the web. The dedication to HTML5 by the large players, including Google, Apple and Microsoft, is a great example of the big players aligning and demonstrating the importance of getting web delivery right.
Adobe launches ad and microsite to hit back at Apple
May 14th
Adobe Systems has hit back at Apple following much criticism from Steve Jobs who has very publically detailed exactly why he doesn’t like the software and the reasons it is not included in the iPad (or the iPod or iPhone for that matter).
The maker of Flash has launched an advertising campaign in retaliation to the Apple CEO’s criticism of Adobe’s Flash technology – a crucial tool for displaying video and interactive content.
The print and online ads from Adobe seek to emphasise the company’s “openness” and explain the “truth about Flash”. They cite figures that suggest three-quarters of web video is viewed using Flash.
The full page ads rare running in newspapers such as The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. The company has also launched a microsite to get its message across.
The strapline is ‘We love choice’ and the (long) ad reads:
“At Adobe, we believe that the open flow of creativity, ideas, and information should be limited only by the imagination. Innovation thrives when people are free to choose the technologies that enable them to openly express themselves and access information where and when they want. Everyone loses when technological barriers impede the exchange of ideas.
Openness is at Adobe’s core. Our first technology was an open standard that liberated publishing from proprietary printing systems, and soon afterward our PDF technology eliminated barriers to sharing documents across platforms.
Adobe Flash technology enables the delivery of content to hundreds of millions of people, regardless of platform or browser. In 2009, in partnership with Google, Research In Motion, and dozens of other companies, we formed the Open Screen Project, a coalition committed to making web experiences seamlessly available on any mobile device. Read the rest of this entry »
Six reasons why Steve Jobs hates Flash (and doesn’t need it)
May 3rd
Steve Jobs, Apple CEO, last week declared war on rival Adobe with a scathing attack on its Flash video programming technology. In an open letter he lists six reasons why Apple does not need Flash.
Jobs published a rare open letter branding Flash a failure on mobile devices. Meanwhile, Flash is the most widespread video player technology on the web used by many millions of sites for videos and games.
But here are his six reasons why Flash is a technology of the past:
- The programming foundation is full of software bugs. “Flash is the number one reason Macs crash,” he wrote.
Flash, says Jobs, drains battery life and does not work properly on touchscreen devices.
- Flash puts a third party between Apple and software developers. That means developers could take advantage of improvements from Apple only if Adobe chose to upgrade its own software.
- Other emerging programming standards such as HTML5, can perform many of the same tasks, and are catching on with software developers.
- Leading video and news websites have recoded some videos to make them viewable on the iPhone and iPad.
- “Flash is no longer necessary to watch video or consume any kind of web content. New open standards created in the mobile era, such as HTML5, will win on mobile devices (and PCs too).
The iPad hype isn’t over yet, just wait until version 2
Jan 29th
Many reports are being very negative about the iPad, they say Apple has got it wrong. But this is all part of a greater marketing plan – the iPad revolution ain’t over yet, the best is yet to come and we’ll be just as sucked into that as we were this one.
I know that by now most will be feeling a little inundated with iPad information and are probably growing a little tired of hearing about Apple’s latest and greatest invention. However, I am surprised by the number of negative reports about yesterday’s launch (a great moment in history people!)
I don’t want to come across as too much of an Apple advocate, most will know I was happy with Dell for years before crossing over to the greener side of the Apple last year. But the iPad, without any doubt at all, is revolutionary.
Some reports say that the iPad is a “disappointment” and that it didn’t live up to the hype. Many reports have also gone and listed everything that the iPad doesn’t do – including such things as include a camera and Flash for example.
But to them I say this, you have missed the point of the iPad and completely forgotten Apple’s tremendous history of success.
The iPad isn’t meant to be a smartphone or a laptop. There are smartphones and laptops that do those jobs incredibly well and doh, the last thing that Apple would want to do is to make two of their best selling products redundant by cheaper alternatives.
The iPad is meant to act as a replacement, or an easier alternative to reading a book, a newspaper, or watching TV on the run.
While the iPad may not be perfect right now, I bet the next version will be pretty close. Remember the first iPhone wasn’t perfect…then came the 3G version one year later. The first iPod’s weren’t great either, they were big and bulky and didn’t have much memory. Now the likes of the Nano have an inbuilt video camera and the iPod Touch supports web browsing.
Give the iPad time people and don’t under estimate the magnificence of Steve Jobs and the incredible marketing genius that is Apple.
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