Technology Review
New browser technologies may reduce the need for Adobe's ubiquitous plug-in.
Since it was introduced in the mid-'90s, Adobe's Flash has remained one of the most popular ways for developers to create animations, video and complex interactive features for the Web--regardless of what browser or operating system an end user is running. According to Adobe, which makes the Flash Player and various Flash development tools, 98 percent of Internet-connected desktop computers have Flash installed, and 95 percent have the most recent version, Flash Player 10.
In an effort to further push the adoption of Flash technology, yesterday Adobe released a new set of features for Flash, including a cloud-based service that lets developers connect applications to 14 different social networks through a single programming interface.
However, Flash's days of dominance may be numbered. Experts say there are two major threats: Apple's open hostility to the technology on its iPhone and iPad devices, and the rise of a new open Web standard called HTML 5, which seeks to make interactivity an integral part of all Web browsers. While Flash introduces extra capabilities to browsers after it is downloaded and installed, HTML 5 would ensure that similar functionality is included in browsers that adopted it as a standard by default, and it would not be controlled by a single company.
Although HTML 5 is designed to vastly extend a browser's abilities, including the handling of graphics and video, Adobe continues to release tools that keep Flash a step ahead. Its development tools also offer a simpler way to create rich Web content. For example, many social networking companies offer different interfaces of their own, and Adobe's new social-network service makes it easier for developers to tap into these.
However, the core strength of Flash--its ability to render graphics and animation in the browser--is coming under attack. At a panel discussion held last week at South by Southwest Interactive in Austin, TX, industry experts debated whether a key element of HTML 5 called Canvas could perform the same tasks for many developers. Canvas allows graphics, animation, and interactive features to run inside a browser without any additional plug-ins.
Ben Galbraith, who works on Palm's WebOS and has been involved with the community of open-source software developers responsible for the Mozilla Firefox browser, recently used Canvas to create a rich Web-based code-editing application. Galbraith and his collaborators had to build many components from scratch. "We had to do a lot of work, but we had great performance and control," he said at South by Southwest.
All this effort shows why Flash is still useful, said Chet Haase, who works on the software developer kit for Flex, a framework from Adobe that can be used to build sophisticated Web applications that run through the Flash player. Flex makes it simple for users to create and reuse visual features of an application, Haase said. Referring to the extensive work Galbraith put into his code editor, he joked: "I would love to reinvent a user interface tool kit every year. It gives a great opportunity to do a lot of interesting programming."
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The last decade expanded what we could do online, but the Web's basic programming couldn't keep up. That threatened to fracture the world's greatest innovation engine—until a small group of Web rivals joined forces to save it.
While reading this article I got an error message from Flash about my computer trying to reach admin.brightcove.com.
what if Adobe releases Flash code as open source and all vendors make the flash plug-in as an extension - this plug-in / built in thing is just a matter or perspective. Flash/Flex/Air today stand way ahead in the RIA space - millions of lines of codes and an army of programmers - HTML 5 ? we have seen this before with Java - soon there will be vendor specific extensions - it will good to have HTML evolve but it is not going to effect Flash in the near future. What we can do with Flex today in terms of writing web apps will take HTML 5 ages to get to (if it gets there )
HTML5 in my opinion will have a serious uphill battle to displace Flash - Aside from the aesthetic value, its ability to transcend the difference in browser's interpretation of code is of enormous value to developers and users. And regarding Apple's heavy hammer attempt to squash Flash as I see it is not unlike MS attempt to corner the browser market. Clearly the fact that Flash apps can circumvent Apple's business (control) model is the underlying reason it has been blackballed. I hope Apple enjoys its stranglehold while it last - inevitably a strong contender will emerge. I develop for iPhone and Flex. I appreciate both but the developer community strongly supports open source - all things being equal, developers will gravitate toward more libertarian platforms.
JavaScript has risen very quickly for RIA
John Resig created jQuery which is a hugely successful JavaScript library, working in conjunction with jQuery UI to enable RIA without the need of Flash. He is working on processing.js which is a library specifically to make working with the canvas easier. Just as jQuery and jQuery UI have become popular very quickly, so will processing.js once HTML 5 becomes a standard or similar JavaScript library. There are way more JavaScript programmers out there than Flash programmers simply because JavaScript does not require anything other than a browser and a text editor to start playing with and learning. You can start using jQuery and jQuery UI simply by placing a source tag to a CDN like Google or Microsoft. When HTML 5 is ready, you will see a huge movement rather quickly going to HTML 5. Currently, HTML 5 is a joke compared with Flash and Flex but it will be at least a year out for this to get some initial traction and probably 2-3 years until we actually see it surging in popularity and Adobe getting worried. Adobe will probably be way ahead but even still, a text editor and a browser is the simplest for a web developer so functionality that is not quite as good as Adobe will still win in that scenario. Just wait a bit.
Thanks for the excellent article. A very powerful read. I would like to correct you on a few major points.
HTML5 Canvas, Audio, and Params technology are all patented by Apple. The HTML5 spec is even being edited by David Hyatt, an employee of Apple who's entire career has been based on the creation of proprietary code for the web. Including Safari, Canvas, and XBL / XUL.
On top of that, Flash Player is open source for partners in their Open Screen Project. The Open Screen Project is a 10 million dollar fund put together by Adobe, Google, RIM, NVIDIA, and many others to support the development of Flash technology.
Finally, Adobe has invested time into the creation of FlashBuilder 4, a tool that makes Flash creation as simple as editing HTML. AND, they are giving it away for free as an educational tool.
Free RIA Tools by Adobe
For more information and links to references of what I discussed, please follow this link:
I'd Rather Be A Woz
I'm sorry but you are silly. There are patents for many things that are not enforceable. There is a patent for linking from one page to another that my colleague has. Do you think he will make good on that? Do you think Steve Jobs wants to be the big bad guy of the web holding on to a W3C standard preventing progress? Why would the W3C even embark on something they cannot implement wide-spread and without patent infringement? You are patently absurd "nGrinder". :)
Dear Joonha,
Steve Jobs is no longer a majority shareholder at Apple.
Apple Shareholders List
WHATWG was formed in rebellion to HTMLWG (w3c). Ian Hickson of Google & David Hyatt of Apple are the 2 main editors of the HTML5 spec.
H.264 patent is owned by Apple, Microsoft, SONY, and many others who are charging licensing fees to browser companies for its use in their implementation:
Patent Holders List
So yes, the W3C is implementing a standard that contains proprietary code which will cost millions for companies who choose to implement it in their browsers/software. And Apple seems to play a major role in the politics behind its adoption.
Adobe's Flash Player is proprietary but its specification is open source allowing anyone to build a Flash Player if they chose to do so.
I appreciate your patently light hearted reply and I hope this information helps answer your questions.
Sincerely,
The nothingGrinder Team
OK, so you have a good list there and would win me in a debate of sorts but that doesn't mean I believe you just yet. Where do you get statistics on this information such as how much browser companies must pay? I would like to know since this is good stuff if its true. Can you list out some more information sources? You are saying "millions" but where is that coming from? No disrespect as you have clearly stated a better case.
the license agreement can be downloaded here:
License Agreement
As a consumer of web content, my perspective is that most Flash content is crap, viz., broadly focused advertising that hogs bandwidth and slows delivery of useful information. Research has shown that the use of distracting design elements in advertising on web pages leads to their being ignored, so that substantive Flash content is often ignored as well. When using older hardware or lower connection speeds, I find that many web sites are useable only via Firefox with the Flashblock add-on.
A flash JavaScript interpreter
If you don't know it, there exists a javascript interpreter for Flash V1&2 called "Gordon" (a nice joke... Flash Gordon) here:
http://wiki.github.com/tobeytailor/gordon/
Surely it could be changed to permanentely translate those Flash files into pure javascript, so yes, flash content can be translated into a browser friendly html code some way.
"98 percent of Internet-connected desktop computers have Flash installed, and 95 percent have the most recent version, Flash Player 10."
Please provide your source for such statement. Reading the data from my 5 different web sites using Google Analytics, I honestly doubt your numbers. 95% of all computers are up to date! 98% having Flash installed? My data reads apx 60% have the latest Flash version, and a bit over 70% have Flash installed. How many user uses a Flash blocker (even if Flash is installed?
More: as it was said, Flash slows down everything while hugging so much processor power . For what? Ads..!! The fastest we get rid of Flash the better it will be. Schools should stop teaching student how to program this. Take it out of academic requirements.
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357 Comments
Powerful Legacy
Nice article. One of the hurdles that HTML5 must conquer is the legacy issue. There is a huge amount of content out on the web that uses Flash. Many people are familiar with Flash tools and they will not switch just because another method is available. The learning slope is not worth it. What would be nice to have is a tool that makes it easy to convert Flash programs to HTML5.
Still, most developers and web sites would be reluctant to convert because not every browser supports HTML5. In other words, it will take a while before HTML5 becomes the standard for multimedia rich web applications. Sorry, Apple. Flash is not going away anytime soon.
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