Report that Adobe is stopping development of Flash for mobile device browsers
Nov 9, 2011 | 10:10 am
#1
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Report that Adobe is stopping development of Flash for mobile device browsers
http://www.cnn.com/2011/11/09/tech/m...html?hpt=hp_t3
Interesting development to say the least if it is completely accurate.
Interesting development to say the least if it is completely accurate.
Nov 9, 2011 | 10:45 am
#3
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Nov 9, 2011 | 3:09 pm
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Nov 10, 2011 | 11:07 am
#5
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Not really that interesting, IMO. Adobe never got its act together on mobile Flash.
Flash is a useful tool on the tethered Internet because it is pre-installed in most browsers for the last decade, and pretty much works the same in every browser. For example, everyone flocked to Flash Video because it was a single format that didn't require nagging your visitors to download whichever of Windows Media, Quicktime, or RealMedia your site used, or to spend time and money making three versions of everything. You didn't have to worry about whether it was the Sun or the Windows JVM installed. You didn't have to worry about ActiveX being blocked by corporate firewalls. You didn't have to worry about the continued existence of Inso, Starfish, WebShow, or a thousand other long-forgotten Netscape plugin manufacturers
In contrast to tethered Flash, mobile Flash is not pre-installed in most browsers, even in the non-iOS world. Nor can it be called generally reliable. In other words, despite years in development, Adobe still hasn't been able to produce either in the marketing realm (i.e. expanding the installed base) or the technology realm (i.e. reliably working software). In an industry changing as rapidly as mobile media delivery, no one's going to bet on that horse. The Jobs complaints about proprietary technology, etc. are academic— they were no less true about the desktop plugin, yet Flash certainly did a number on the Java applets back in the day.
Flash is a useful tool on the tethered Internet because it is pre-installed in most browsers for the last decade, and pretty much works the same in every browser. For example, everyone flocked to Flash Video because it was a single format that didn't require nagging your visitors to download whichever of Windows Media, Quicktime, or RealMedia your site used, or to spend time and money making three versions of everything. You didn't have to worry about whether it was the Sun or the Windows JVM installed. You didn't have to worry about ActiveX being blocked by corporate firewalls. You didn't have to worry about the continued existence of Inso, Starfish, WebShow, or a thousand other long-forgotten Netscape plugin manufacturers
In contrast to tethered Flash, mobile Flash is not pre-installed in most browsers, even in the non-iOS world. Nor can it be called generally reliable. In other words, despite years in development, Adobe still hasn't been able to produce either in the marketing realm (i.e. expanding the installed base) or the technology realm (i.e. reliably working software). In an industry changing as rapidly as mobile media delivery, no one's going to bet on that horse. The Jobs complaints about proprietary technology, etc. are academic— they were no less true about the desktop plugin, yet Flash certainly did a number on the Java applets back in the day.
Last edited by choster; Nov 10, 2011 at 11:14 am
Nov 10, 2011 | 1:14 pm
#6
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not a huge shock. even on the latest android phones, flash is a bandwidth hog. html5 is the future of web apps and adobe has realized this. Smart phones are now the iOS market, android, windows phones, and the webOS/other market. iOS won't use flash, Android with growing marketshare will transform into html5 browsing w/ chrome as a stock browser, and the others will adapt. Flash on the desktop works, but mobile hasn't and won't.