Flash Is Going To Kill Granny! - The Hate Flash Meme
Ok, I've been biting my tongue on this one, until now.
For months I've been hearing from clients, in forums and even from my non-tech friends about how much the world hates Flash. "Flash needs to just die, die, die, blah, blah." Of course at the same time they want all that this ubiquitous evil demon has to offer. Recently, things have gotten out of hand.
Such misinformed passion. Where is all this passion coming from?
Like many of the currently politically passionate but curiously misinformed—where is the origin of your point of view? Did a bad Flash pop-up ad traumatize you as a child? Is Flash going to kill granny? Apple says it's bad (for mobile), so there ya go. That must be it?
HTML5 replaces Flash! News Just In—it's not a replacement!
The great irony is the misinformation about its "replacement"—HTML5. Somehow some mainstream tech meme evolved from the ooze that HTML5 is more compliant, more "web standard", more media friendly, and a more modern, efficient, and streamlined "web solution" for Flash. Sounds so good, actually a lofty intention.
I recently read this gem in a forum post: "I’ve heard and read a lot about HTML5, and there is a lot to be excited about, this is awesome. It looks like it’s time to really dig in and learn how to use this—potential browser issues be damned." Yes, tell that to your client: Dear client, browser issues be damned!
The issue is quite the opposite. We are taking a well-adopted technology (Flash) that is cross-platform compliant in 97%+ of all browsers, with thousands of web applications that use it, and "replace" it with a markup language (HTML5) that currently has no real browser compatibility, agreed standards or other consistent functionality that Flash has had for years.
In many ways this is actually feels like going backwards. Tech memes evolve in spite of logic and spread on their own like a viral video.
This is a control issue, not a technology issue. It's not even an either-or proposition. It's a clash of the Titans. It's not about what's best for you—the digital media producer or your client. The business models and motivation for this are interesting but beyond my pay grade or space here. I also find it interesting that this tech meme is defined as a some kind of face-off, a competition for our own good.
Continued on the next page
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