Why are people complaining about flash support?

[Thphilli]

Everyone seems so against Flash and so for HTML5, but the most recent tests with the newest version of Flash, show on pretty much everything except Apple products, Flash 10.1 is actually significantly more efficient than HTML5.

Why is everyone loving HTML5 so much when Flash is more efficient, more widespread, and from the sites that I've seen from different "best of HTML5" websites Flash is much prettier and has more cool features.

The difference between flash and HTML 5 is that for flash, there is only one provider. With HTML 5 , is it a standard that any provider can use. To develop web site in flash, you need to use adobe products, that's not the case for HTML 5. But the worse part is that to view such site in flash, you have to use adobe product, not the case for HTML 5.

It almost the same thing as saying that if you want to drive on some roads, you have to use a Toyota car, and nothing else... So you have two choices, buy a Toyota or avoid these roads.

It's not that flash is bad (or evil as some fanboys like to say), it is a matter of being free to access the information as I see it. Think about that debate about the document formats. There is a war actually for portability of word processing documents between several formats. That came because everything was only compatible with MS Word and had to use Microsoft products only.

We are now facing the same issue with web content. That is what HTML 5 is trying to solve. A common format that everybody can use.

You do understand that with HTML 5 different companies support different video technologies right? Google, Mozilla and Opera support one while Apple and Microsoft support another. So that is going to fragment the hell out of the web unless one standard is accepted. HTML5 is not the holy grail, even though Apple has been trying to sell it to you as such as an explanation why they don't have basic web functionality such as flash included in their devices.

 

[Superbike81]

Who can't use Flash? (Besides iOS users LOL!)

It's a simple download and install that only takes a few minutes on even slow connections..

Your car analogy is flawed. A better one would be "if you want to drive on this road you have to mount this small transmitter in your car"

Huh? A transmitter? That would mean that even without the transmitter, you can still drive on the road, but you have to expect a bill at a the end of the month

Remember the time when some site were available only to Internet Explorer?

Most browsers can view Flash simply by installing the Flash component. This would be the same thing for a car, you can drive any car you want, but if you want to drive on certain roads you have to retrofit a small device.

You don't have to have a special computer to view Flash, just a simple addon.

 

[rogatsby]

The real reason iOS devices don't have Flash is because it would work like crap on these devices. Everyone talks about how Android allows Flash and how great that is, but they don't mention that it works like absolute crap even on Android phones. Flash just doesn't work right on portable devices with these relatively slow processors. I have an Android phone, and I disabled Flash because it is literally worthless.

I don't miss Flash at all, and I read plenty of news on my iPad. And videos work fibe on most of the news sites I visit, such as the New York Times.

 

[Superbike81]

Flash videos play excellently on my Galaxy S. Do you have Android 2.2? That allows Flash 10.1 which greatly improves Flash performance. I used the Volvo configuration tool which uses heavy Flash, it was choppy on my phone, but at least it worked. The newest phones and tablets will run it even better.

 

[nateccnn]

I also have Flash installed on my Droid by Motorola which is also over-clocked to 1.2 ghz. At 800 mhz flash is choppy. at 1.2 Ghz it runs pretty nice. But it also depends on 3G speeds/connection strength. Then again, UTube is choppy when 3G speeds are low.

Bottom line...if you have good speed connection and a fast processor, flash is awesome. With 800 mhz processor and spotty 3G you're going to be disappointed. Maybe this is why Apple has allowed iPhone on Verizon...so they can test the network to see if flash is doable on the i-devices. HAHAHA...now I am speculating.

Nate

 

[iPadCharlie]

Now that Jobs is out of the day to day again , do you think the anti flash stubbornness will change?

He's not dead! He has only taken a leave of absense and is still the CEO and calls the shots on all major decisions.

Do you know what his ailment is? Its amazing he as lived as long as he has. Don't expect a triumphant return this time, even though we all hope he will get better.

Why would you say that when you don't even know why he has taken a leave of absence? It is well known that he has had a liver transplant and is dealing with pancreatic cancer so I would suspect it is one of both of those things.

 

[MachThree]

What's not debatable is that if I, as a user, want to run flash, and am willing to accept the fact that it might crash or might mean I only get 3 hours on a charge instead of 8 or 9, that should be my choice to make. Not Apple's, and not Steve Jobs's.

No one is preventing you from running Flash. It's free. You can install it on any supported platform.

The Flash / iPad combination is probably the only in demand software / hardware combination in the world that is "unsupported" not because the software maker refuses to support the hardware, but because the hardware maker refuses to support the software.

And of course, yes, someone (Apple Computer) is preventing me from running Flash. On my iPad. Which is where we are talking about running it in this discussion!

You bought a computer that doesn't support Flash (hopefully knowing that before you chose to purchase the device). It doesn't support 3.5" floppy diskettes either.

No, I bought a computer (actually, it was given to me as a gift, but that's beside the point) whose hardware supports running Flash perfectly fine, thank you. Whose software would support it perfectly fine as well. The only obstacle is Apple Computer trying to tell me what I can and cannot run on the device I paid them for. You'd think for $600 I leased something from Apple, rather than purchased it, judging by their attitude. Again, the whole idea that its "unsupported" is hogwash, because its not due to a lack of capability, its due to arbitrary limitations being imposed by Apple.

Are you suggesting you should be able to tell Apple what to put in their products?

I'm suggesting that Apple not tell me what to put on the product I purchased.

 

[Superbike81]

This is pretty funny (not to mention TRUE)

if you try to visit Toshiba's tablet website using iOS you get this:

 

[wrecklass]

This is pretty funny (not to mention TRUE)

if you try to visit Toshiba's tablet website using iOS you get this:

Ya I was going to point that out. The author of AppAdvice saw it and was going to rag on Toshiba for being iPad hostile. Then he watched the video (on his MacBook) and decided the Toshiba tablet looks pretty cool. Good advertising knows it's market.

I still haven't gone to view the video. After work maybe. Oops, best get back.

 

[SweetPoison]

This is pretty funny (not to mention TRUE)

if you try to visit Toshiba's tablet website using iOS you get this:

Seriously? That is just too damn funny!!

 

[Superbike81]

Just for the people who will say it wouldn't work on any current Android device, the desktop version of the site runs fairly smoothly on my Galaxy S with Android 2.2 and the newest Flash version. Even the mouseover stuff for the 360°viewing works fairly well. Is it perfect? No, but it's smooth enough to be fully functional from a current generation phone, so if Flash 10.1 was allowed on the iPad it should work just as well. This is the whole point, even sites that we could technically run on the iPad are not viewable AT All due to a Petty fridge Steve Jobs holds against Adobe.

 

[iPadCharlie]

I'm suggesting that Apple not tell me what to put on the product I purchased.

I think you are a little mixed up! Apple did not tell you what you could or could not put on the product you purchased. Apple designed the product exactly the way they wanted it and then you bought it anyway. You make it sound like they took away the option to use Flash after you bought it when we all know that it was actually never there to begin with!

 

[Thphilli]

He's not dead! He has only taken a leave of absense and is still the CEO and calls the shots on all major decisions.

Do you know what his ailment is? Its amazing he as lived as long as he has. Don't expect a triumphant return this time, even though we all hope he will get better.

Why would you say that when you don't even know why he has taken a leave of absence? It is well known that he has had a liver transplant and is dealing with pancreatic cancer so I would suspect it is one of both of those things.

"Pancreatic cancer life expectancy is very low. Once a person has been diagnosed with the condition, general pancreatic life expectancy is only 5 to 8 months, though 20 percent of pancreatic sufferers will live at least 1 year."

He was diagnosed in 2004.

That is why.

 

[Superbike81]

There is a very effective medicine called "billions of dollars" that can help extend your life regardless of what ailment you have. Too bad this miracle medicine is so rare.

 

[Thphilli]

I'm suggesting that Apple not tell me what to put on the product I purchased.

I think you are a little mixed up! Apple did not tell you what you could or could not put on the product you purchased. Apple designed the product exactly the way they wanted it and then you bought it anyway. You make it sound like they took away the option to use Flash after you bought it when we all know that it was actually never there to begin with!

They did. The device is fully capable of running flash, and Adobe was very interested in porting their flash technology over. The ONLY thing that stopped it was Apple. They would have had to do NOTHING to their hardware. Why did they do this? Well, so that they could use their own advertising technology while blocking flash ads, as well as forcing everyone to use only their app store and only their music store, etc.