We in the resort industry love our technology. Our websites get overhauled every 2-3 years, we have to use the latest gadget or service. Whatever it is, we're in. My Space, podcasts, Facebook, Twitter - I'll have one of each please. We have to be like this because competition is fierce and almost everyone is a potential customer so we need to have fresh information and it needs to be everywhere. For that very reason, the latest attacks on Adobe Flash, by our god-like hero, Steve Jobs, comes with a word of warning.
While Flash vs HTML5 battles flare up on blogs around the Internet, the people that are most affected by the outcome of the war (our customers) don't even know, or care about it. They just want their stuff to work.
The hype factor
Steve Jobs and Apple are the masters of hype. I'm in awe at what they've done with the iPad, it's just mind blowing. They've been able to make people clamber over themselves with product lust for a device that's the equivalent of an oversized iPhone with a broken camera, and to pay more for the privilege.
I consider myself to be a level headed person. When the iPhone came out, I wanted one, but I looked at what it lacked and waited. I finally got one last year and I love it. What an awesome phone!
With the iPad though, I just didn't get it. Why would I want an iPhone that doesn't doesn't fit in my pocket? And why has it sold twice as fast as the iPhone ever did? As I say, mind blowing. The story of The Emperor's New Clothes comes to mind.
With the iPad though, I just didn't get it. Why would I want an iPhone that doesn't doesn't fit in my pocket? And why has it sold twice as fast as the iPhone ever did? As I say, mind blowing. The story of The Emperor's New Clothes comes to mind.
This run of good fortune that Apple has at the moment has given them a huge amount of hype momentum. They're convincing young developers and IT departments about what the future holds and putting fear in the hearts of decision makers all around the globe. The message is, you need to ditch Flash, use HTML5 for your web pages and H.264 for your video format and if you want anything really fancy, you need to make an iPhone app and put it on the App Store. It's the way of the future.
Misconceptions
(FYI, H.264 is the video standard of choice for many, including, but not limited to Apple, Adobe, Google, and Blue Ray discs)
There are a few things being bandied about in the Flash vs iPhone debate that need to be explained.
Myth #1: Flash performance is terrible compared to HTML5. The truth is, it may well be one day, but at the moment, it's not. Both Flash Player and HTML5 performance is going to get better, but for now there's no clear winner as each has its merits. Check out this video on current Flash Player vs HTML5 performance on a Mac and mobile devices: http://recombu.com/news/flash-player-101-pwns-html5-on-a-nexus-one_M11610.html
Myth #2: Flash player can't play H.264 videos which are now the standard. Flash player has been able to play H.264 videos for more than two years now and according to our stats of active web video watchers, more than 98% of people's Flash players can do this. Flash player is the most widely used H.264 video player.
Myth #3: iPhones and iPads will soon overtake the number of people needing Flash Player, right? Shouldn't I be changing to suit? Given that us in the resort industry change our websites every 2-3 years, we're in a great position to be able to take advantage of the now, and look at future technologies when the time is right. That current comparison of Flash penetration vs iPhone OS penetration is so far in Flash's favor, it's actually a closer battle if you just compare active Farmville users to iPhone OS users. (Farmville is a Facebook game made with Flash) :
85 Million iPhone OS based devices sold to date (iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad)
vs
69 million active Farmville players.
That's almost as many people actively playing Farmville as there are iPhones, iPod Touches and iPads ever sold!
Farmville's just a game though you say... OK then, what about Google Analytics? That uses Flash. Google Streetview too. Google has actually recently hard-coded Flash Player into their Chrome web browser so it's no longer treated as a plugin. They're even going to be very soon supporting Flash in their own mobile platform, Android. You see, there are some other big players that have differing views on the future of Flash than our beloved Steve.
Myth #4: Our website stats show that Firefox is now almost as popular as Internet Explorer, bring on Firefox and it's HTML5 H.264 video! You'd assume that because Firefox is an open source project, that when the phrase "H.264 is an open standard" is mentioned, you think the two are a perfect match. The sad truth is, H.264 being "open" is somewhat of a grey area because the standard is actually owned and patented by MPEG-LA.
Even though MPEG-LA's patent license conditions for H.264 are very reasonable, the fact that they receive royalties for this patent is something that is against the core of the Mozilla Foundation's licensing agreement, and because of that, they've already stated that Mozilla does not and will not support the H.264 video standard in its Firefox browser.
It's not just Firefox, the major browser vendors are split on this. Opera and Firefox will not support H.264, only the Theora codec which is free, and Internet Explorer 9, Google Chrome and Safari will. What does that leave us with? It means that without plugins like Adobe's Flash Player, every video has to be encoded, saved, and uploaded twice, and special code put in your website to recognize which browser is viewing your webpage, and to give the viewer the video format that they need. (You can eliminate a couple of those steps though by using an online video platform like Brightcove or our very own MVP)
Even though MPEG-LA's patent license conditions for H.264 are very reasonable, the fact that they receive royalties for this patent is something that is against the core of the Mozilla Foundation's licensing agreement, and because of that, they've already stated that Mozilla does not and will not support the H.264 video standard in its Firefox browser.
It's not just Firefox, the major browser vendors are split on this. Opera and Firefox will not support H.264, only the Theora codec which is free, and Internet Explorer 9, Google Chrome and Safari will. What does that leave us with? It means that without plugins like Adobe's Flash Player, every video has to be encoded, saved, and uploaded twice, and special code put in your website to recognize which browser is viewing your webpage, and to give the viewer the video format that they need. (You can eliminate a couple of those steps though by using an online video platform like Brightcove or our very own MVP)
HTML5's biggest issue
HTML5's biggest problem is Microsoft Internet explorer. More specifically, it's the fact that people that use that browser (and they're still the majority in most cases), take years to update their software. And that comes down to the one reason I believe Microsoft are the biggest software company on the planet - backward compatibility.
Most software coming out now for PCs will still run on Windows XP, the Microsoft operating system that was first released in 2001. There's not one current software product I know of that will run on Mac OS circa 2001. This is the reason we still have people using the likes of Internet Explorer 6. Also released in 2001. About 5% of our website's traffic at resorts-interactive.com is IE 6. I find that amazing that 9 year old software is still being used, but the fact of the matter is, we don't want to cut off that 5%... not yet.
Most software coming out now for PCs will still run on Windows XP, the Microsoft operating system that was first released in 2001. There's not one current software product I know of that will run on Mac OS circa 2001. This is the reason we still have people using the likes of Internet Explorer 6. Also released in 2001. About 5% of our website's traffic at resorts-interactive.com is IE 6. I find that amazing that 9 year old software is still being used, but the fact of the matter is, we don't want to cut off that 5%... not yet.
Fast forward to the present (2010) and Microsoft is poised to release IE9 which they promise will support HTML5. Fast forward to 2019 when we might finally be able to start looking at implementing HTML5 when we decide that those 5% that are using IE 8 can go to hell and upgrade their crummy browser to be able to use our website.
The other issues that plague HTML5, like disagreement between browser vendors, will pail in comparison to the IE issue. We must remember that we can't force technology on the masses. They can be gently steered over years with some amazing hype, but when it comes to the crunch, we can only look at what they're currently using and adjust to suit.
So if it's going to be that long before we can really start taking advantage of what HTML5 has to offer, why has Steve Jobs whole heartedly attacked Flash and ruled it out from current and future versions of the iPhone OS? There's a simple answer actually. The App Store.
The other issues that plague HTML5, like disagreement between browser vendors, will pail in comparison to the IE issue. We must remember that we can't force technology on the masses. They can be gently steered over years with some amazing hype, but when it comes to the crunch, we can only look at what they're currently using and adjust to suit.
So if it's going to be that long before we can really start taking advantage of what HTML5 has to offer, why has Steve Jobs whole heartedly attacked Flash and ruled it out from current and future versions of the iPhone OS? There's a simple answer actually. The App Store.
Adobe has handed Apple the perfect opportunity for a smoke screen
As a Flash developer who's computer of choice has been a Mac since I became a convert in 2003, I've witnessed first hand that Adobe are no angels when it comes to Flash on the Mac, but at the end of the day, I'm winning.
Because of this little bout with Apple, I now have a Flash Player that has all the features I wanted from the Windows version - mouse wheel support, proper vector printing and excellent performance increases. This has all come too late for some, and Apple have been able to capitalize on Adobe's shortcomings as the perfect smoke screen.
Flash being the rich, cross-platform software that it is, if people could run apps on an iPhone from a webpage, for free, Apple would lose out as they take a 30% cut from the developer of all sales made on the App Store. What's more, you can't make iPhone OS apps on a PC, you have to use a Mac, and a recently purchased or upgraded one at that. That equates to more Mac sales.
Adobe, and several others, wanted a piece of the Apple pie (sorry, couldn't resist), and decided that they'll be clever and make something that allowed them to convert apps made with Flash, to iPhone apps. Now how nice would that have been? Flash developers could have made one app, that worked across all devices, including iPhones and iPads.
That was until Apple changed its developer terms and conditions to state that only Apps made with their software are now allowed. That's downright dirty, and it's why there is now a preliminary anti-trust investigation into Apple's actions being undertaken by the US government. Are Apple being anti-competetive or is Steve Jobs just a control freak? I'm thinking it's a bit of both.
Adobe, and several others, wanted a piece of the Apple pie (sorry, couldn't resist), and decided that they'll be clever and make something that allowed them to convert apps made with Flash, to iPhone apps. Now how nice would that have been? Flash developers could have made one app, that worked across all devices, including iPhones and iPads.
That was until Apple changed its developer terms and conditions to state that only Apps made with their software are now allowed. That's downright dirty, and it's why there is now a preliminary anti-trust investigation into Apple's actions being undertaken by the US government. Are Apple being anti-competetive or is Steve Jobs just a control freak? I'm thinking it's a bit of both.
You can trust my opinion, because I'm awesome
I know what you're thinking, "You're just defending your patch! Resorts Interactive's products rely on Flash!". It's true, all our software uses Flash to some extent, and it has done since day one. I am a Flash programmer, but I'm also business owner, a husband, and a father, I have to make good decisions. Flash isn't the only technology I know and rely on. HTML, Javascript, PHP and MYSQL are all staples for us at Resorts Interactive. I'm even having a blast making an iPhone app at the moment and learning Objective-C, Cocoa Touch and Apple's Interface builder (for us geeks, iPhone development is fun!). We've done all we can to accommodate the differences between websites that work well on PCs, Macs, iPhone and iPad. We've made all our videos and photos from MVP (our multimedia management product) automatically viewable in the iPhone OS in Mobile Safari, and without the use of HTML5 I should mention.
My point is, like all good web software creators, we use the best technology for the job for the current audience. For us, like thousands of others, Flash plays a big roll in meeting those requirements. We're not about to retire our software and wait for HTML5 to play catch-up. We'll keep an eye on the state of play and adjust to suit if and when the time comes. We'll do our own research, look at the figures, avoid the hype, just like any other responsible business.
My point is, like all good web software creators, we use the best technology for the job for the current audience. For us, like thousands of others, Flash plays a big roll in meeting those requirements. We're not about to retire our software and wait for HTML5 to play catch-up. We'll keep an eye on the state of play and adjust to suit if and when the time comes. We'll do our own research, look at the figures, avoid the hype, just like any other responsible business.
To sum up
Flash is as strong as ever. Despite what Steve Jobs' visions of the future are, Flash is a current technology that people, in their hundreds of millions, use every day. We can plan for the future, but we need to live in the now. Flash is not going to disappear before your next website revision, and for resorts, it's going to be at least three or four website revisions before HTML5 has enough market penetration to become a viable alternative.
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