After several tweets about Flash tonight, I’ve realized that it’s nearly impossible to make any real point in 140 characters. Flash has been a hot button issue for web developers since it first emerged. On the one hand, it provides reliable, cross-browser functionality, on the other hand, it’s in-accessible, overused, and a go-to option for people too lazy to learn javascript.
Overall, I would be very happy to see most Flash content die a horrible death, doubly so for sites that are 100% Flash. The idealistic side of me would love to see a rich, interactive web that runs on standards alone. However, the pragmatic side of me accepts that browser plug-ins aren’t going any where for a while.
While ranting about how horrific Flash is has become very popular, it’s important to keep the following points in mind:
- Flash was the only cross-browser animation option for years. While we have an arsenal of slick tools at our disposal today, 5 years ago Flash was pretty much it.
- Most of the people with bad Flash content likely don’t know it’s bad. We web developers tend to forget that 99% of the people online have never heard of web standards or accessibility. We tend to be the most vocal on the web, so we assume we represent the majority, but we don’t.
- Most of the people with bad Flash content likely don’t care. Most businesses would consider 90% of users good enough. Especially given that the anti-Flash crowd is still demographically similar. A website for tech-savvy 20 somethings will lose money with a Flash site. A site selling infomercial crap to boomers probably won’t.
- Finally, HTML5 is not only a year or so away, it’s also not 100% on par with Flash or Silverlight. Want to access a webcam? Want 3d graphics support and inverse kinematics? Want to display a video that isn’t square? If so, a browser plug-in may still be the best option.
- Every obnoxious thing developers do in Flash will be done in HTML5. It’s only matter of time before you see obnoxious mortgage ads, animated splash pages and lame navigation systems using the canvas tag instead of the embed tag.
- Most business owners don’t care about losing business from iPad and iPhone users. Chances are, if they have a 100% flash site, they lost your business years ago.
I know that any comments posted here will likely be telling me why Flash sucks, but that doesn’t make me wrong. I would love to see Flash and SilverLight limited to a few rich experiences, but it’s not going to happen any time soon. How many table-based websites do you still see out there?
Like the transition from tables to CSS, the transition from Flash will be long, painful and expensive. It will be worth it, and we will all be better for it, but this battle will be won by even-tempered education. If we want the web to get better, we need to tone down the whiny “It doesn’t work on my iPad” bullshit and build a solid argument that business owners and content-providers can understand.
As many people know, I’m a bit of a Microsoft fan boy. I’ve been an open supporter of most of their technology and I make a decent living writing code for various Microsoft platforms. Needless to say, when the new Windows Phone was announced, I was pretty stoked. I was even more excited when it actually looked good. My excitement peaked at MIX, when I actually saw the dev tools and got my hands on some prototype hardware.
Unfortunately, my interest in the Windows Phone has dropped dramatically since MIX. In fact, at this point, the Windows Phone is at the top of my 2010 disappointment list. How did the Windows Phone crew complete alienate a known, Microsoft fan?
- No News is Bad News
When the Windows Phone 7 was announced, there was a lot of excitement in the MS dev community, but also a lot of questions. At MIX, the team had an opportunity to answer questions. Instead they made a bunch of announcements that everybody expected and they showed of a bunch of apps my friends have had on their iPhones for over a year. Announcing Silverlight support was about as surprising as Ricky Martin coming out of the closet and watching Jeff Sandquist bob along to the Blacked Eye Peas was funny, but we’ve all seen Shazam.
Even after MIX, the only news I’ve heard is some leaked hardware specs from Dell. If you think I’m exaggerating, check out the wp7dev Twitter account. An entire month’s of updates fits on a single page and most of it is duplicates and replies. Charlie Kindel’s blog has no posts since a week after MIX. Even the Windows Phone dev blog has only had 7 updates since MIX.
- WinPhone7 Hijacked MIXI was hesitant to write this because overall I think MIX was great, but it really felt like a lot of good web content was killed to make room for WinPhone7 content. Most of the first keynote at Microsoft’s web conference was dedicated to the phone, rather than actual web development or design content. Bill Buxton, who was easily the most anticipated speaker for designers, was given 15 minutes at the tail end of the last keynote. It also seemed that an inordinate amount of sessions were dedicated to WinPhone7, despite the fact that they could even give an approximate release date of the hardware.
The Windows Phone 7 stuff at MIX was little more than a PR ploy to get more posts on Engadget and Gizmodo. I can honestly say that this was an opinion shared by almost everybody I talked to at MIX.
Based on this and my previous point, it’s clear that WinPhone7 isn’t close enough to completion to warrant this type of coverage.
- No HardwareI understand that it will be a while before we see and actual WinPhone7 in the wild, but it would be nice to have something to work with. There are lots of multi-touch devices out there, but based on reading various forums, support for the WinPhone7 emulator is sketchy at best. I’ve tried contacting lots of people, including the special support contact offered to MIX attendees and not one has any recommendations.
The most frustrating part is that the only hardware I’ve seen recommended was the PDC laptop, which is still not available for purchase. So, if you went to PDC you’re all set, however if you went to the conference about the phone, you’re pretty much screwed.
Overall, it seems like the WinPhone7 pre-launch hype has been a big mess. Most of the windows mobile guys I know are upset because the new phone doesn’t have any backwards compatibility and most of the people who were interested at MIX are waiting for news on hardware and launch dates. I really think Microsoft jumped the gun on this and as a result they’ve alienated many of the same developers they were hoping to woo. With Android 2.1 just released and iPhone 4’s leaking every day, Microsoft needs to get their act together if they want to have a chance in the mobile market.
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