Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Flash vs. HTML5

Very interesting articles!  I would have to agree that it’s time to move away from using Flash to using HTML5.  My biggest concern is the fact that Flash is owned by a private company, Adobe, and they have all the rights and say on the software.  It’s is also a plug in (or addition to the browser) so there are always chances of issues.  I know from work experiences, that software can cause a lot of issues.  I know we had to keep “Flash” from auto installing on the company computers because it would update files that we didn’t want updated.  We had to go thru tons of testing before we could upgrade to the new versions, which was a major concern and problem for some areas.   Another concern would be that Flash uses a lot of power for batteries.  With technology moving to hand held devices and portable devices, you want your battery to last as long as you can.  From the sounds of some of the articles, Flash has been asked many times to upgrade their software to work for mobile devices and keeps delaying the updates.  They will have to do a major overhaul of the software to get it compatible for mobile devices and also so it will not drain the batteries.  That will take lots of time and money to complete. 
By using HTML5 for all the internet needs that include audio, video and gaming graphics, everyone is using the ‘standard’. The required components are built into the application and does not require addition software to work.   It will be more user friendly. 
The original announcement that Apple will not be using Flash was definitely a push for HTML 5 to be used more, and for it to move faster as the market standard.  Now that Apple is saying that they are working with Adobe again, this will prolong the push for using HTML 5.  It may be several years before HTML 5 is the new standard.  That will give everyone time to change over to the new standard.
Here is a couple another article that I found:
Reporters' Roundtable: HTML 5 vs. Flash dated Feb 2010.  It also includes a podcast:

http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/does_html5_really_beat_flash_surprising_results_of_new_tests.php

No comments:

Post a Comment