The “Noughties” are well and truly over, so where does that leave Flash?
Adobe Flash grew from its introduction in 1996 to achieve almost complete market penetration at the end of the decade affectionately called “the Noughties”. Microsoft, designers, developers and even Disney embraced Flash as the best way to enhance websites, to add visual effects and create a more interactive user experience.
However as the “Tens” decade began, a dramatic shift from Flash to HTML5 began to take effect. Apple’s Steve Jobs was famously quoted in early 2010 in his rebuttal to Adobe as saying “ Flash was created during the PC era - for PCs and mice. But the mobile era is about low power devices, touch interfaces and open web standards - in all of these areas Flash falls short.”
This mobile era is driving demand and therefore changing the development landscape. Apple does not allow Flash on iPhones, iPods or iPads, rather it has adopted open systems such as HTML5, CSS and Java Script. It is this decision and the dramatic shift to touch interfaces that started the significant movement against Flash to HTML5.
HTML5 is open, reliable, highly secure and efficient. It allows for more advanced graphics, typography, animations, video, images and transitions. It is largely controlled and overseen by a committee (WHATWG) made up of three companies - Opera Software, the Mozilla Foundation and Apple rather than the proprietary based Flash, which is owned 100% by Adobe.
HTML5 allows for the same web-enhancement as Flash without the need of bloated 3rd party software. It is faster and has more power. HTML 5 is also significantly more search engine friendly than Flash.
At DogHouse Media, we believe strongly in open source web development and the efficiencies it delivers to our customers. HTML5 is no exception. We believe Flash should be left to the “Noughties” and HTML5 embraced as the new generation of web standards into the future.
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