As times change, technology changes and the world is introduced to new ideas. The World Wide Web is no better evidence that change and turn of events are constant and part of our experience every day.
Many web developers are constantly looking for new and innovative ways to bring interactivity to the web. With new methods like HTML5 and CSS3 starting to pop up, will old technology like flash disappear from the face of the internet?
Don’t get me wrong, I like Flash as much as anyone, but sooner or later something is going t to give. Now-a-days, many effects created in Flash can be replicated with JavaScript and JavaScript libraries like Ajax, J-Query, MooTools, etc.
Recently one of my colleagues, Anthony Calzadilla, created a really cool and innovative animation using nothing more than CSS3, which you can find here: AT-AT Walker from Star Wars.
He made this without the use of any animation programs; no Flash, Toon Boom or After Effects—and I’m not saying this just so everyone will start using CSS3 instead of Flash. My point: With the problems that do, in fact, come with Flash Animation, it is inevitable that web designers and developers will seek different and better solutions.
Will Flash become out-dated? To answer this question we have to look at what it is mainly used for, as well as look at what it lacks. Flash is best known for its ability to play videos on the web and for gaming, but one of the biggest internet video sites, YouTube, is slowly drifting away from Flash and working on ways to start implementing HTML5 into their website. If more sites start to follow YouTube’s path toward HTML5 where will that leave Flash?
The future is going to be pretty iffy for Flash because with HTML5 you can use a browser without Flash installed and still be able to watch videos and listen to audio. Currently the only browsers that can support this are Google Chrome, Apple Safari and Internet Explorer, but only if you have the Google Chrome Frame plug-in installed.
Will Flash be the Lotus 123 of the early 21st Century? Is online video animation and Flash no longer virtually synonymous? What about Flash Games? Oh, oh! You can now create games with JavaScript … time will tell … stay tuned!
2 Comments
“…as a side note. jquery is very impressive and can do a lot of what flash is mostly used for: animated gallerys, rollover effects, expanding content and does it very very well. it is truly amazing what can be done with js and html but flash wins by letting virtually anyone become an animator and even an “app developer” with a very very short amount of tinkering.”
posted by:meglomor
wow…shouldn’t even bother to comment but saying that ‘The future is going to be pretty iffy for Flash because with HTML5 you can use a browser without Flash installed and still be able to watch videos and listen to audio.’
Highly misinformed and inaccurate. It only means that the ‘simpler’ tasks that can more easily be standardized will become increasingly HTML5 driven. Flash as a platform will continue to evolve and push the envelope of what is creatively possible on the web. Amen.