It’s old news by now, but that doesn’t mean we can’t tip our collective hats and remember the early days.
Oh, how easily-excited we used to be. Oh, how “visiting a website” was a fun, cinematic experience. Oh, how long our attention spans were back then — a full THIRTY seconds!
It was a pretty magical time. It didn’t matter if a website actually had content, if it had presentation it got people coming back again and again. I never cared what the text of Eye4U’s website actually said. I went there for the sweet music and the flying shapes. Honestly, I’ve been there dozens of times and don’t think I’ve ever read the content once.
Alright, maybe that’s a bit silly. I do actually like the “new” idea of websites with content. I also used to love going to a website and having a sense of wonder. To me, Flash wasn’t just about delivering content. It was about making it cool, and fun, and interesting.
It’s been a long, long time since I felt that sense of wonder.
“Mr. Dude, what does the death of Flash mean to you?”
Well, this is the future I imagine:
- The eventual end of fun, wild, random, crazy and pointless websites
- Less emphasis on presentation
- More emphasis on the content itself
- Back to smaller boxes for smaller screens (like on smart phones)
- Concise content designed for adolescent attention spans
- Websites designed to give maximum information to people in an extreme rush
Yes, it’s progress. But is it in the direction we want? Stay tuned!
Dude,
Flash is alive and well; thriving in fact. everyone read the first half of Adobe’s press release and ignored the rest. See http://www.theWorldsGreatestBook.com/flash-dead for video proof.
That’s exciting!
I wouldn’t mind being wrong here… it definitely wouldn’t be the first time.
How far away do you think we are from iDevices being able to see older (v4 and up) Flash content?
I suspect older content will remain in the desktop browser. Apple would have to admit to shutting the door on Flash for competitive business reasons if they relent and allow the flash plugin to run on iOS. Once Adobe successfully ports the ability to deliver flash-style behavior into webkit/CSS3/HTML5, Apple will have a harder time arguing against new “standards.” In a way, Adobe wins this battle but Apple gets the equivalent of the flash plug-in built into webkit which is a win for them. I suspect we’re a few awkward years away from seeing full-featured FlasHTML5, but Adobe has every reason to push hard. CS6 will be, I suspect, a good start and then, with the new subscription model, we’ll see frequent updates and enhancements instead of waiting another 2 years for CS7. The pressure is certainly on Adobe to deliver.
Like you, I’m a long time Flash designer/developer. In fact, your original site was one of my early inspirations to devaite from the HTML path and explore what Flash could do. After teaching myself 3 versions of ActionScript, I’m not ready to let go of my hopes yet. One of the videos on the link I posted shows an “export to HTML5″ option in a beta version of Flash 6. Let’s see how much Adobe will actually deliver in the Spring.
Very cool! Thanks for all that.
This is the part where I admit I haven’t really played around with the animation capabilities of HTML5 very much. Aside from http://www.thewildernessdowntown.com/ and a host of sliding/fading headers, all the “animation” I’ve seen reminds me of FutureSplash!
Carson Anounced the “Death of Print”. The books are still here. In Epub format but still a book. Books evolved no reason why Flash won’t. Don’t forget legacy books (paper books) are still available.
Used Flash since FutureSplash. The browser plug in is dead. Never mind. Just upgraded to CS5.5 and became all excited about AIR. Running native applications on iThings. Build once and package for just about everything. This I like. Fun, wild, random, crazy and pointless mobile Apps
“How far away do you think we are from iDevices being able to see older (v4 and up) Flash content?”
As above not in the browser.
Some of the old stuff re-packages well as AIR Apps. I have over 500 v5 (year 2000) Flash files for a client who wants them rebuilt for iPad and Android. Mostly linear presentations. All they need is the screen resized to wide-screen and the time line controller replaced in ActionScript 3. Cut and paste the new controller in the library. Luckily the modules are that old there not a lot of ActionScript at work. Pheww!!
What’s next, in your opinion?
Do you figure Web 4.0 will be entirely mobile — and that desktop Internet will be a thing of the past? Would desktops be running mobile-emulators instead of browsers?
Desktop internet will be around for some time yet. I won’t be hanging up my keyboard. It’s a pain typing out content on a tablet screen.
I see the future as being split between Content Creators and Content Consumers. Creators need a large desktop to produce content. Consumers switch to tablets and Smartphones.
On my desktop now there are a variety of mobile emulators for different screen sizes and resolutions. Smart Television is just about ready. That gives us opportunity to publish Apps/content for the TV. There’s also Apple/Google Apps for the desktop. I see Apps as just Mini websites packaged in a .zip file. Instead of a bookmarks list in the browser the desktop/tablet/phone/TV, will we have an App for each website?
Brings a new challenge of producing content that works on 320*240 screens and 55″ Plasma screens. When a client comes for work. There could be a requirement to repackage/resize the graphics at least 3 times to cover the screen sizes.
Interesting times lie ahead. I see myself producing interactive magazine Apps in Flash. Same as I used to produce multimedia cd’s.