Apple’s been taking some heat recently because the iPhone and the new iPad don’t have Flash. I on the other hand, would like to congratulate Apple on this move. If you don’t know, Adobe’s Flash is a popular way to put things in motion on the web. It is behind many of the dynamic effects you see on the web.
However, Flash is an aging, proprietary, non-standard, cycle-stealing, insecure piece of bloatware whose primary function seems to be to push irritating ads at web surfers. I generally surf the web with Flash entirely blocked. The only time I miss it is on certain sites which use flash for video, such as YouTube, which is probably the best application of flash on the web. Since the iPhone already has a dedicated YouTube App, the primary thing you are missing is a bunch of very annoying ads. This doesn’t seem like a problem to me.
Apple has frequently been innovative in what it includes and does not include in its computer systems. Apple was first to introduce the 3.5″ floppy disk, and the first to leave it out when its time had passed. Apple was also the first to drop the parallel port and RS-232 serial port. These were superseded by ADB and now by USB. Apple was quick to drop built-in modems as the technology was eclipsed by Ethernet and WiFi.
In the same way, Flash’s time has come and gone. It’s going to be a little tougher with Flash, because Apple can’t do it alone. Flash has become entrenched as a de-facto standard. Apple is leading the way, but others need to follow.
A true open standard for video and animation on the web is possible. HTML 5 eliminates the need for Flash. YouTube already is allowing users to beta-test HTML 5 delivery of videos. People are seeing noticeably lower CPU load while playing HTML 5 videos compared to Flash.
-Jamie
