In the dispute between Adobe and Apple on the future of Flash, it is not only web developers who are asking whether open web standards like HTML 5 will herald the end of the proprietary Flash format.
Adobe could have been grateful for all the media attention it has received in recent weeks – had it not been for the constant mention of its rival at the same time, whose huge success means that it is able to steer the course of digital development with very little criticism.
Nevertheless, Apple’s Flashplayer ban on its mobile appliances does raise certain questions: what is Flash’s future and, if it has one, what does it look like?
Flash means Flex means AIR
In recent years, Flash has turned into a family name. The range of products supplied by software producer Adobe is so vast that it is almost possible to lose the overview. Apart from the firmly established family members Flex and AIR, there are process-optimising, data-providing, media-coding and access-limiting add-ons and programmes. The product range indicates binary power – even if, as is evident here, this is only of limited use within a family organisation.
Bytes from the PC era
Just as important as the coordination of the different products is the integration capability of a product family in its environment. In this respect, the outlook for Adobe Flash in the Web is bleak. Not because the use of Flashplayer is lessening or its performance is lousy, but because the Web is making huge advances with its HTML 5 standard – in the fields of animation, video and conformity. This means that certain functionalities provided for many years by Flashplayer – designed as a plug-in (also termed a foreign body) – now have competition.
Sooner or later, HTML 5 will establish itself in the market. It is only a question of how long this process will last. The compatibility problems of Microsoft browsers are still present, and initial incompatibilities have already been noted in the current implementation of the video functions.
Javascript cracks can only dream…
The idea of combining HTML 5, Javascript and CSS 3 sends every web developer into raptures. In no time, animated banners are created, video streams integrated and intelligent navigation systems programmed. This however is the stuff of dreams; consistent web development will not be possible until browser independent presentation is enabled.
… Flash developers too
At first it seems like a paradox: a Flash programmer getting excited about the new standard? This means no longer having to create a banner in 34 variations or implement a Flashplayer or a slideshow for the umpteenth time. Room again at last for that which sets Adobe Flash apart and which developers love about it: using the powerful and creative proprietary engine to test the limits of what is possible and otherwise achieve the ‘impossible’.
Flash is a cut above the rest
AIR, Flex and Flash form a solid basis for the future. In the field of stand-alone applications, the competition cannot keep up in terms of simplicity, flexibility and compatibility. No environment with a similar distribution offers more room for 3D interactions. As always: if rich animation and performance is needed in the Web, Flash is the first choice. We will be happy to provide you with additional arguments and information if needed to explain why Unic will continue to use Adobe Flash for the realisation of Rich Internet Applications (RIA) long into the future.
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