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In September 2010, Apple eased its restrictions by allowing deployment of Flash applications on [[iOS (Apple)|iOS]] using [[Adobe Packager]].<ref>Sorrel, Charlie. "Apple Eases App Development Rules, Adobe Surges." Wired. Wired, 2010. Web. 12 Sept. 2010.</ref> According to Adobe Labs, Adobe Packager “offers Flash developers a fast and efficient method to reuse existing code from ActionScript 3 projects to deliver native applications on iOS devices”.{{citequote|date=December 2010}}
In September 2010, Apple eased its restrictions by allowing deployment of Flash applications on [[iOS (Apple)|iOS]] using [[Adobe Packager]].<ref>Sorrel, Charlie. "Apple Eases App Development Rules, Adobe Surges." Wired. Wired, 2010. Web. 12 Sept. 2010.</ref> According to Adobe Labs, Adobe Packager “offers Flash developers a fast and efficient method to reuse existing code from ActionScript 3 projects to deliver native applications on iOS devices”.{{citequote|date=December 2010}}


In November 2010, a ''[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]]'' columnist said "allowing Flash — which is a development platform of its own — [on the iPhone] would just be too dangerous for Apple, a company that enjoys exerting total dominance over its hardware and the software that runs on it," and that it would allow developers to circumvent Apple's [[App Store]].<ref>{{cite news
In November 2010, a ''[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]]'' columnist said <blockquote>Allowing Flash — which is a development platform of its own — would just be too dangerous for Apple, a company that enjoys exerting total dominance over its hardware and the software that runs on it. Flash has evolved from being a mere animation player into a multimedia platform capable of running applications of its own. That means Flash would open a new door for application developers to get their software onto the iPhone: Just code them in Flash and put them on a web page. In so doing, Flash would divert business from the App Store, as well as enable publishers to distribute music, videos and movies that could compete with the iTunes Store.<ref>{{cite news
|last=Chen
|last=Chen
|first=Brian X.
|first=Brian X.

Revision as of 19:21, 6 January 2011

HTML 5 can be used as an alternative to Adobe Flash.[1] Both include features for playing video within web pages.

However, a common mis-perception is that HTML 5 can provide animation and interactivity within web pages,[citation needed] which is untrue.[citation needed] JavaScript is necessary for animating HTML elements. Animation using JavaScript is also possible with HTML 4. Some organizations like Apple are contributing to these incorrect beliefs by claiming old technologies, or technologies that in fact rely on future versions of CSS, are "HTML 5." For example, Apple's web site contains several demonstrations of technologies that Apple claims are examples of HTML 5 at <http://www.apple.com/html5/>. However, of the six demos, only two rely on technologies that are unique to the HTML 5 standard.[2][need quotation to verify]

Comparison

Current availability

Flash has been in existence since 1996 and, because of this, has a strong base of developers and consumers. According to Adobe statistics, Flash had reached 98% penetration in March 2010.[3]

Currently, HTML5 is not supported universally or fully by all browsers and there are not many websites putting its available features to use.[citation needed] For example, Microsoft's Internet Explorer web browser, which had a 57% market share as of December, 2010,[4] does not support "HTML 5" outside of version 9 (which is still unreleased as of January, 2011, and doesn't run inside Windows XP). HTML 5 is in draft state at the time of writing and the standard itself contains many "bugs."[improper synthesis?][5] In fact, HTML 5 will probably not be ready until at least 2022.[6]

Flash is not available on some platforms including Apple's iOS devices—iPhone, iPod touch and iPad.[7] Apple promotes HTML5 as an alternative to Flash for video and other content.

Website adoption

According to Adobe,

  • 85% of the most-visited web sites use Flash,
  • 75% of web video is viewed using the Flash Player,
  • 98% of enterprises rely on the Flash Player, and
  • 70% of web games are made in Flash.[8]

In contrast, some video sites — including YouTube, Vimeo and blip.tv — have implemented a degree of experimental support for HTML5 video.[9]

Performance

See also: Performance of Adobe Flash

Some users—especially those on Mac OS X and Linux—have complained about the relatively high CPU usage of Flash for video playback.[10][unreliable source?] This was partially due to the fact that the Flash plugin did not use the GPU to render video. Adobe has respond to some of those criticisms in the 10.1 and 10.2 releases of the Flash plugin by offloading H.264 video decoding to dedicated hardware and by introducing a new video API called Stage Video.[11] In addition, the use of the newer ActionScript 3.0 inside Flash movies, instead of the older ActionScript 2.0 improves code execution speed by a factor of around 10. But, older websites that use ActionScript 2.0 will not benefit from this.[12] Another reason for poor Flash performance is that some Flash developers incorrectly code their Flash files, which can be a problem with "HTML 5" animations, as well.[13]

Authoring

Constructing Flash websites using Adobe tools including Flash Builder is relatively easier than with integrated development environments for CSS, HTML, and JavaScript. However, many of Adobe's tools are expensive.[14]

Features

Flash has the ability to specify measurements in sub-pixel increments. When confronted with CSS and HTML measurements on a sub-pixel scale, web browsers will round either up or down, depending on the browser, which leads to inconsistency and unreliability in the display of those pages.[14]

Flash offers webcam and DRM support, while HTML and related technologies do not.[citation needed]

Apple and Flash

As of April 2010 Apple did not support Flash on the iPhone, iPad, or iPod, having adopted HTML5 instead.[9][15] Steve Jobs noted that Flash is not an open standard – it is controlled by Adobe – whereas HTML5 is controlled by a committee made up of three companies, one of them being Apple.[15]

In September 2010, Apple eased its restrictions by allowing deployment of Flash applications on iOS using Adobe Packager.[16] According to Adobe Labs, Adobe Packager “offers Flash developers a fast and efficient method to reuse existing code from ActionScript 3 projects to deliver native applications on iOS devices”.[This quote needs a citation]

In November 2010, a Wired columnist said

Allowing Flash — which is a development platform of its own — would just be too dangerous for Apple, a company that enjoys exerting total dominance over its hardware and the software that runs on it. Flash has evolved from being a mere animation player into a multimedia platform capable of running applications of its own. That means Flash would open a new door for application developers to get their software onto the iPhone: Just code them in Flash and put them on a web page. In so doing, Flash would divert business from the App Store, as well as enable publishers to distribute music, videos and movies that could compete with the iTunes Store.[17]

See also

References

  1. ^ Bilton, Nick (June 30, 2010). "Amazon to Introduce Web-Based Book Previews". Bits. The New York Times. Retrieved December 26, 2010.
  2. ^ "What HTML5 is (and what it isn't)," HTML5 First Look, (Lynda.com, 2010), <http://www.lynda.com/home/DisplayCourse.aspx?lpk2=67161>
  3. ^ Shankland, Stephen (February 3, 2010). "HTML vs. Flash: Can a turf war be avoided?". CNET News. Retrieved December 26, 2010. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  4. ^ "Top Browser Share Trend," <http://www.netmarketshare.com/browser-market-share.aspx?qprid=1> [Retrieved January 5, 2011]
  5. ^ "Bug/Issue Tracking Service." W3C. 11 Dec 2010. Web. 10 Dec 2010. http://www.w3.org/Bugs/Public/buglist.cgi?query_format=advanced&short_desc_type=allwordssubstr&short_desc=&product=HTML+WG&long_desc_type=allwordssubstr&long_desc=&bug_file_loc_type=allwordssubstr&bug_file_loc=&status_whiteboard_type=allwordssubstr&status_whiteboard=&keywords_type=allwords&keywords=&bug_status=UNCONFIRMED&bug_status=NEW&bug_status=ASSIGNED&bug_status=REOPENED&emailassigned_to1=1&emailtype1=exact&email1=ian%40hixie.ch&emailtype2=substring&email2=&bugidtype=include&bug_id=&votes=&chfieldfrom=&chfieldto=Now&chfieldvalue=&cmdtype=doit&order=Reuse+same+sort+as+last+time&field0-0-0=noop&type0-0-0=noop&value0-0-0=
  6. ^ James, Justin. "HTML 5 Editor Ian Hickson discusses features, pain points, adoption rate, and more," <http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/programming-and-development/?p=718>
  7. ^ Kingsley-Hughes, Adrian (2010-05-28). "Why there's no Flash on the iPhone/iPad (and why there shouldn't be Flash on Android)". ZDNet Hardware 2.0 blog. Retrieved 2010-12-27.
  8. ^ Adobe Systems, "The Truth About Flash," <http://www.adobe.com/choice/flash.html> [Retrieved January 6, 2010]
  9. ^ a b Bilton, Nick (January 31, 2010). "IPad Can't Play Flash Video, but It May Not Matter". The New York Times. {{cite news}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  10. ^ "Flash - CPU Usage - FPS - Frame Rate." Online posting. 10 Dec 2008. Reader discussions, Adobe Support Forums. 10 Dec 2010. http://forums.adobe.com/thread/230334
  11. ^ "Adobe Releases Flash 10.2 Beta, Reduces CPU Usage During Video Playback". Lifehacker. 2010-12-01. Retrieved 2010-12-27.
  12. ^ "ActionScript 3.0 overview," <http://www.adobe.com/devnet/actionscript/articles/actionscript3_overview.html> (Adobe, 2006)
  13. ^ Skinner, Grant. "Quick as a Flash" <http://2010.max.adobe.com/schedule/by-session/quick-as-a-flash/471c495b-7ddf-4c0c-936b-609916f11e85>
  14. ^ a b Wayner, Peter (June 2, 2010). "HTML5 vs. Flash: The case for Flash". InfoWorld. Retrieved January 5, 2011.
  15. ^ a b Jobs, Steve (April 2010). "Thoughts on Flash". Apple Inc. Retrieved May 1, 2010.
  16. ^ Sorrel, Charlie. "Apple Eases App Development Rules, Adobe Surges." Wired. Wired, 2010. Web. 12 Sept. 2010.
  17. ^ Chen, Brian X. (November 17, 2008). "Why Apple Won't Allow Adobe Flash on iPhone". Gadget Lab. Wired. Retrieved January 6, 2011.
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