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Monday, April 05, 2010

Filed under: *VIDEO* •compression •Distribution •Mobile Devices •

Tépper is glad that the iPad doesn’t support Flash

Allan Tépper | 04/05

The whiners need to wake up and understand the message that has already been written on the wall for over two years.

I am glad that the iPad doesn’t support Flash, and I hope it remains that way. I like efficiency, stability, security, omni-platform compatibility, direct search engine friendliness, truly open-standards, and long battery life. Back in 2008, I published Encoding web video in the age of the iPhone. Among many other topics, the 4-page article talked about how content producers are best served by steering clear of Flash-dependent media if they expect to have it be readable by what I called the fastest-growing computing device segment, which of course was —and still is— mobile devices. Since then, there has been exponential sales growth in that category, including iPhones, iPod Touches, multimedia Blackberries, and a handful of Android phones from several different manufacturers, including the recent Droid, Milestone, and Nexus One. On time for the iPad launch, some of the most important content producers in the world have understood the message that has been on the wall for over two years, and have already made themselves compatible with these Flash-free mobile devices, including Brightcove, CBS, CNN, ESPN, Facebook, Flickr, Major League Baseball, National Geographic, the National Hockey League, Netflix, Nike, NPR, People magazine, Reuters, Sports Illustrated, TED, The New York Times, Spin, Sports Illustrated, Time, the TWIT network, YouTube, Vimeo, Virgin America, and the White House. It’s time for the whiners to stop complaining and get the message too. Despite some criticisms about certain details in their products (i.e. their current lack of SFTP support), I love Adobe, and I admire its past, present, and future developments. Flash is perhaps the only thing that we don’t need anymore from Adobe, and that simply creates content that is unreadable on multiple millions of devices. My appreciation for Adobe should also be clear by my recent article called: Will Adobe’s new Mercury technology provoke a sudden exodus from Final Cut Pro to CS5?

If the iPhone and iPod Touch were the first two major devices to encourage content producers to avoid creating (or to replace older) Flash content, the iPad is perhaps an even more important one. As I have done in the past, I will continue to generate articles, seminars/webinars, and tutorials about how to create content that is compatible with popular mobile devices, as well as continuing to work with more traditional laptops, notebooks, and desktop computers. This short article is just to remind those who already knew, to nudge those who knew but were in denial, and to inform those newbies who perhaps weren’t aware yet.

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Disclosure, to comply with the FTC’s new rules
None of the manufacturers listed in this article is paying Allan Tépper or TecnoTur LLC specifically to write this article. Some of them have sent him software for review. Some of the manufacturers listed above have contracted Tépper and/or TecnoTur LLC to carry out consulting and/or translations/localizations/transcreations. At the date of the publication of this article, none of the manufacturers listed above are sponsors of ProVideo Coalition magazine or of the TecnoTur programs.

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To me the issue isn’t about Flash, it’s about choice. No one has been stopping anyone from competing with Flash. Why didn’t Apple make Quicktime a competitive platform? Instead Apple is trying to limit choice, which has worked well for them.

Back 15 years ago or so when I was working with Lotus Notes we used to think Microsoft’s chant for a new OS release was, “Windows isn’t done until Lotus won’t run.” I think Apple has hindered Flash development on OS-X in a similar.

I want to have all the choices I can get. Apple wants me to have only choices Apple thinks is good for it. I have two generations of Mac Pros and they are the finest made computer hardware I’ve ever owned. I didn’t buy them until the OS was based on UNIX. I don’t have an iPhone and I won’t be buying an iPad. Why? Because they live in a totalitarian world I want little to do with. I may switch to Adobe Premiere when my Mac Pro reaches end-of-life. I need Photoshop and AfterEffects anyway. That covers the cost of the whole suite.

Calling people whiners tells me more about you than it tells me about them. Oh, I guess you mean me, right? Name calling really lowered the tone of this post in my eyes.

Posted by Rob on 04/06 at 12:47 PM

Rob,
HTLM5 is an open standard. Video can be played in HTML5 without any plugin: no QuickTime Player, no WindowsMediaPlayer, no RealMedia Player. On the other hand, Flash is not an open standard, does require a plugin, and is insecure, processor intensive, and battery intensive.

The iPad designers want us to have a safe, smooth experience with extremely long battery life, and they have achieved that goal. As content producers, we need to make sure our content plays on all of the devices. We can’t afford to be invisible to millions of devices that are flooding the market.

Allan Tépper

Posted by Allan Tépper on 04/06 at 12:54 PM

Hi Allan,

Thanks for the quick response. I understand your points and I understand the technical issues around rich media on the web. It’s one of the things I do. But I don’t think you got my point, likely because I said to many other things too.

Even though they’re using HTML5, an open standard, Apple is trying to “own” you ... “own” your experience on the Internet. The big media companies are hoping this will take us back so they can control the whole experience.

Your talking about Flash ... I’m talking about freedom. In my view the free Internet has done more to democratize the world than anything else since the invention of the printing press. Apple, like many companies, profits from locking they’re customers down as much as they can get away with. It’s their company and I support they’re right to do that. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to help them.

The Internet is changing the world and everyone is scrambling to adjust. Some companies and governments want to restrict it so they can avoid being more open. The want to keep the status quo. Change is scary and all change may not be good.

Maybe I’m being overly dramatic but I see your innocent post as a small vote against the open Internet. I’m guessing you won’t see it that way. So I’m just offering my point of view.

peace,

Rob:-]

Posted by Rob on 04/06 at 01:50 PM

The one specification of HTML 5 that makes it nearly as usable as Flash, is Canvas, which is accessible with JavaScript and is an Apple proprietary element. Java is not any newer or lighter, or less battery intensive than Flash, although it is more open. In fact Flash Lite is designed for mobile devices, and there are many devices, other than Apple’s, that support it. ( http://www.adobe.com/mobile/supported_devices/handsets.html ) However, if you are talking about Freedom, then being more open is important.

Posted by DanConklin on 04/08 at 08:02 AM

I just saw this open letter by Mr. Jobs, today, on the subject, in a newsletter by ZDnet I subscribe to.

http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=33848&tag=nl.e539

Posted by wsmith on 04/29 at 10:48 AM

Thank you WSmith,

I just posted about it, thanks to you!

Allan Tépper

Posted by Allan Tépper on 04/29 at 11:26 AM

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