Apple vs. Adobe Wars and the Death of Flash
I’ve aimed to produce a new web interface every year since there’s been an internet. I designed and concepted this current one over the course of a week, just after Steve Jobs announced that flash would never be on an iPhone or iPad, I knew that my new site had to be viewable on the iPhone, iPad and have a clean new interface. The new way is mobile. Your content everywhere. Every phone, every tablet, every browser, every time. (This latest incarnation of my web presence, coded by Derek Akers, of the d.)
(a screenshot of my previous website, all flash, replaced with the one you are viewing early in March)
With each incarnation of my web presence, I’ve aimed to be an early adopter. I jumped on social media sites for promotion very early. As a photographer, every social media strategy goal should be to drive traffic back to where your work is. There are multiple reason for choosing to leave flash for a developing platform for my site. A very big one has everything to do with the current battles between Apple and Adobe, and the result leaving the iPhone and the US released iPad, flashless. This site is my adaptation to the way the industry is moving.
Here’s a short excerpt from an article this morning from Mashable.
In short, Steve Jobs claims Flash drains the battery of mobile devices; it’s not very good for multi-touch operation, and its performance, reliability and security are all shoddy. It’s also a proprietary system, and while Jobs admits that their mobile OS is also proprietary, he claims that web standards should be open, like HTML5, CSS and JavaScript.
Most importantly Apple doesn’t want “a third party layer of software (to) come between the platform and the developer.” Finally, Jobs concludes, Flash is a relic. “Flash was created during the PC era –- for PCs and mice,” he says, “but the mobile era is about low power devices, touch interfaces and open web standards –- all areas where Flash falls short.” РMashable
I use Apple products. You could call me an Apple supporter. If I thought that flash was dying just because Jobs says it is, I’d be an idiot. Here are my reasons dropping Flash like I dropped 3rd period french. (sorry Mrs. Maurice)
Mobile devices. Even if the new Android supports flash, that phone is an island. Companies aren’t going to hang their entire flash identity on the hope that users will use the one mobile phone that supports flash. Everyone has an iPhone or a Blackberry. That’s the market. All the other platforms share a very small percentage. People like to have the “it” product, the one that’s hot, fits into that lifestyle that is seen everywhere. (and it’s usually the phone that their friends have).
The iPad. My site just has to be viewable here. It just has to be. I’m in the picture business. I shoot video. Imagine showing your book on the iPad, during a random meeting on the street with a potential client. The reason i say imagine, is because the iPad isn’t available here in Canada yet and I actually do have to imagine. This device will literally change publishing. Less magazines on the stands. Every magazine on the iPad. Bloggers and online magazines that already are getting play, will get hundreds of times more. Those that have the internet working for them, are already on a database style of site management tool like WordPress for creating custom css and java html templates that work on everything.
Direct links. This is equally as important as mobile support. When I update, I can post the direct link to that update. I send my viewers to the content i just created. That story or set of images can be reposted, relinked, excerpts can be taken and linked back to the source. Every image has a link and search engines index them all. Direct links and tags are how your images actually will get seen and shared. Add sociables to your post and it makes it a whole lot easier and faster to get to the content you are looking for.
RSS feeds. If you haven’t discovered RSS, it’s amazing for getting new content from the sites you frequent. instant updates in your chosen RSS reader every time you post new content. I had been using feeds for awhile now to read some of my favorite sites and nothing makes me happier than being able to give my viewers that option rather than having to keep checking back and searching through for the “new”.
Analytics. I’ve always tracked “hits” now i track individual images, blog posts, re-tweets, facebook mentions, refers, ping-backs, and more stat jargon than i need to get into. External site tracking ie: someone came to my site, vs. Internal site tracking ie: they came, they saw this, they stayed this long on this and they left on that. These are the goods that i need to know.
Load Time. 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,20,40,50,80,99………. and done. No more loader bars and countdowns till you see content. Flashy animations and Gizmos flying around distracting you from uninteresting content.
Bottom line for flash i think is this. Adapt. The inter-web has changed since it’s invention. In life for all things it’s adapt or die. Unfortunately for flash, it’s time for a retool. When Jobs says “flash is dead” Many companies, small businesses and developers listen. If you are a flash developer, it may be time to jump on the java, css, and HTML 5 bandwagon. As companies scramble to rejig their web presences, there’s going to be some new opportunities out there for those in the know.
It’ll be interesting to watch the web in the coming months after the worldwide release of the flash killer, the iPad. How are you adapting?
