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Christopher Dawson
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Flash better not be dead

By | November 9, 2011, 8:01am PST

Summary: If rich internet applications have to start relying on HTML5 anytime soon, then a whole lot of educational content just became toast.

And not just because my day job is with a company that sells a Flash-based virtual classroom. Literally thousands of educational applications rely on Flash for rich interactivity that HTML5 simply can’t match.

Jason Perlow (among other ZDNet writers) called out Adobe’s announcement that it was ending development of Flash for mobile devices. Fortunately, this hardly translates to Flash’s death. In fact, Flash on mobile has always been kludgy with native apps and Air applications providing a far better experience, in no small part due to the size of the screens involved.

Adobe hardly announced that it was killing off Flash altogether. They have deep investments in desktop Flash, as do countless developers who rely on the ease of development and incredibly rich feature set to achieve browser-based applications that can’t be had any other way. Java has some traction here, but fragmentation of plugins and configuration issues mean that IT staff (especially overworked, underpaid staff in schools) don’t relish Java software. And HTML5 is getting better quickly,

But as Adobe wrote in their official announcement this morning,

Our future work with Flash on mobile devices will be focused on enabling Flash developers to package native apps with Adobe AIR for all the major app stores…These changes will allow us to increase investment in HTML5 and innovate with Flash where it can have most impact for the industry, including advanced gaming [author's note: Including educational applications, games, and content] and premium video. Flash Player 11 for PC browsers just introduced dozens of new features, including hardware accelerated 3D graphics for console-quality gaming and premium HD video with content protection. Flash developers can take advantage of these features…to reach more than a billion PCs through their browsers and to package native apps with AIR that run on hundreds of millions of mobile devices through all the popular app stores

I have to say, I’m not terribly worried here about the future of Flash. Adobe’s own tools make porting code written in Flex to Flash, Air, and native apps fairly straightforward. Tools to port to HTML5 are also emerging from Adobe. There is clearly going to be a slow evolution towards platforms that are universally supported across browsers, but to say that Flash is dead is like saying that mobile apps are dead because Adobe is moving to support HTML5 better.

Adobe is advancing an ecosystem of tools and platforms that talk nicely to each other and allow for parallel development, using, as it says, the capabilities of “HTML5 and Flash [which,]…together…offer developers and content publishers great options for delivering compelling web and application experiences across PCs and devices.”

Is there marketing spin here? Of course there is. Adobe has invested a lot of capital (monetary, political, marketing, and otherwise) in mobile Flash and they didn’t exactly come out and say they miscalculated. That being said, we’re still a long ways from an HTML5 that can replicate the functionality of Flash.

I’ve already seen a fair amount of panic on various ed tech and web development listservs over the demise of Flash. There is plenty of time to take a deep breath, keep our eyes on developments in both platforms, and leverage existing work to ensure that educators continue to be able to use cutting edge web-based tools with Adobe underpinnings, regardless of the devices on which their students learn.

Also read:

Flash is dead. Long live HTML5.
Adobe ceases development on mobile browser Flash, refocuses efforts on HTML5

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Christopher Dawson

Chris Dawson is a freelance writer and consultant with years of experience in educational technology and web-based systems. In 2011, he became the Vice President of Marketing for WizIQ, Inc., a virtual classroom and learning network SaaS provider.

Disclosure

Christopher Dawson

Christopher Dawson is the Vice President of Marketing for WizIQ, Inc., by day and a freelance writer and educational technology consultant by night. Well, most of his colleagues at WizIQ are based in India, so really he's working with them whenever he can stay awake. He has worked for his local school district as a teacher and technology director, for the Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health, and for Biogen, Inc. (now Biogen-IDEC, Inc.). He has also consulted with STATNet and Cytyc Corporation and retains close ties with X2 Development Corporation (now owned by Follett Software, the supplier of the student information system he administered for several years). Follett is paying him a monthly honorarium to act as a presenter for their "SIS Voices for Student Achievement" community (he produces occasional blog posts and hosts a monthly webinar on the use of student information systems to inform data-driven instruction and school-wide change. He regularly purchases and/or recommends Dell hardware. This is because Dell makes good hardware and has truly committed itself to education in innovative ways, particularly with their "Connected Classroom" initiative. It isn't because he has dealings with the company through his role at WizIQ (which he does) or because they have provided him with long-term loans of a variety of equipment for in-depth testing (which they have). Intel (reference designer for the Classmate PCs he has implemented in his local schools) has provided him with long-term loans of Classmate PCs for testing, as have Dell and Lenovo with their educational offerings. He may report on any of these companies as his experiences with them have direct bearing on educational technology; positive reports are not necessarily an endorsement and he receives no direct financial compensation from these companies or any others. Intel paid all expenses for his attendance at the 2009 Intel Classmate PC Ecosystem Summit which he attended as the sole representative of the technology press. He was invited to attend in 2010 but his wife would have killed him if he spent 3 days in Vegas geeking out and left her home alone with a new baby. Acer provided him with a 50% discount on an Aspire One netbook in early 2009 after he tested it for 30 days through their educational seed program. He liked the netbook at the time but it has since broken and sits unused in his office. Canonical sent him Ubuntu lanyards, t-shirts, and mousepads for his kids. He stole one of the lanyards and proudly hangs his keys from it and occasionally features his 8-year old wearing an oversized Ubuntu t-shirt on his Facebook profile. Gunnar Optiks sent him a pair of computer glasses to evaluate for a holiday gift guide. He is wearing them now as he types this because they never asked for them back and they rock out loud. Seriously - they work brilliantly and make it much easier to spend 20 hours a day staring at an LCD. If they ever asked for them back, he would fork over the $99 and buy a pair. Microsoft gave him 2 free copies of Office 2010 professional, a desktop clock, and a useless book on Office 2010 when he attended the launch of Office/Sharepoint 2010. He occasionally uses the SharePoint lanyard they gave him instead of the Ubuntu lanyard for his keys, but feels dirty afterwards. Adobe provided him with a pre-release version of the CS5 Master Collection for evaluation and ultimately provided a full, licensed copy for ongoing testing of educational applications of this admittedly expensive software. Like the Gunnars, if the license expires or they come out with CS6, he'd actually go out and buy it himself. Which is saying something, because he's actually pretty cheap. Any other companies wishing to send him cool things to evaluate, wear, or otherwise adorn his kids are more than welcome to; he promises to disclose it here if he keeps any of the stuff. Finally, because WizIQ is a virtual classroom and learning network provider, Chris, as VP of Marketing, frequently interacts with, seeks out deals with, and directly or indirectly competes with a whole lot of LMS, SIS, and other Education 2.0 companies. In general, he'll limit his reporting about these companies to news that does not impact his relationship with them or with WizIQ. If he reports on them, it's because what they are doing is newsworthy or worth the attention of his readers and not because he's trying to broker some deal, damage competition, or otherwise advance his position in his day job. LMS and SIS companies, along with other online learning communities, are a pretty important part of Ed Tech. If he stops reporting on them completely, there won't be a whole lot left. He'll be sure to call out any overt conflicts of interest if they are unavoidable. Finally, Follett Software Company pays him a little tiny honorarium every month to present on their SIS Voices webinars and to write the occasional blog or discussion thread for them. Since Follett recently bought X2 (maker of an awesome web-based SIS that Chris just happened to have used, served in advisory groups for, and frequently reported on), this is probably also worth disclosing.

Biography

Christopher Dawson

Christopher Dawson grew up in Seattle, back in the days of pre-antitrust Microsoft, coffeeshops owned by something other than Starbucks, and really loud, inarticulate music. He escaped to the right coast in the early 90's and received a degree in Information Systems from Johns Hopkins University. While there, he began a career in health and educational information systems, with a focus on clinical trials and related statistical programming and database modeling. This focus led him to several positions at Johns Hopkins, a couple-year stint in private industry, teaching high school math and technology, and 2 years as the technology director for his local school district. Most recently, he started his own consulting business and is now the Vice President of Marketing for WizIQ, Inc., a virtual classroom and learning network provider. He lives with his wife, five kids (yes, 5), 2 dogs, and a hateful cat in a small town in north-central Massachusetts. Although he is no longer teaching, his roles with WizIQ and ZDNet allow him to continue helping students and teachers add value to education with technology rather than merely adding to the bottom line.
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RE: Flash better not be dead
JoeFoerster 11th Nov
@tonymcs@... Sounds like you guys know what you're doing. My company has a lot of in-house developed training in Flash, which breaks quite frequently when new versions of Flash come out. All of this is a moving target. A supported browser today is not supported tomorrow. IOS5 and Android will leapfrog each other. Meanwhile you've got training to deliver. Adapt or die!
View in thread
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RE: Flash better not be dead
CowLauncher 9th Nov
Hi Chris, Problem is that educators want the same rich media they use on the desktop to work on the flood of Student Owned Devices that are in the schools now. Flash is no longer an option then and we are using ways to develop content without it as well as redoing stuff that is currently Flash based. Some stuff will never be able to be converted but we have had lots of success with drag and drop sort of things and of course video using HTML and javascript.

Authoring tools for HTML 5 are getting better with products like Adobe Edge.

No Flash may be a hard pill to swallow right now but it is and has been a reality for a while and the sooner we start using plugin-less alternatives the better. The vast majority of SODs in schools do not support Flash.
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They Don't?
rhonin Updated - 9th Nov
@CowLauncher

Strange - the majority of the "educational" tools I have seen my kids use in school the last couple of years involves Flash....

What are you seeing I am not?
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RE: Flash better not be dead
CowLauncher 9th Nov
@rhonin we are talking SODs here. Mobile technology kids are bringing to school. In one of our large jurisdictions SOD network traffic doubled that of school workstations! Over 5000 connected users a day were from SODs.
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RE: Flash better not be dead
VincenttheITguy 9th Nov
@CowLauncher I agree 100%. Our entire household has iPads. My wife can do 90% of her school work on her iPad now without flash. There are a few things that she has to use the desktop for. Same for my son (who's 8). Hopefully education institutions will make the transition.
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RE: Flash better not be dead
michaelalaggia 9th Nov
@vegeyman9 yeah, but you just indicated how you and your family are outside of the mainstream. iPads are not mainstream and with Android already overtaking Apple iOS. Apple did not not lose it's marketshare but it didn't grow either. While Android is rocketing. You are also missing the fact of Adobe Air on iPads. So you may or may not be aware of what Adobe is bringing to your experience nor whether or not the Apps were developed by Flash. You simply don't have the 'Flash Player' which is different that Flash. Flash is a platform for which the Flash Player supports.
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RE: Flash better not be dead
tonymcs@... 9th Nov
@CowLauncher

Unlike the theorists here, I actualy produce interactive eLearning and have done for over 25 years. A few years ago, we moved our Windows only eLearning player to HTML/Javascript and since our eLearning uses synchronised voice-over and video we need a means to support it on the Web. Now I can use WMP even on the Mac with the appropriate add-ons but only 2 technologies promised the broadest support - Flash and HTML 5.

We have duplicated the Windows only functionality of our eLearning on the Web which includes all the interactions we were using on the desktop. There is now no difference beween our native code eLearning and the web-based stuff and the WYSIWYG development system (written in .Net - I'm not crazy) will publish to either.

The only thing I need Flash and HTML 5 for is to play audio and video - mp3 and mp 4 files. All other functionality can be handled by HTML/Javascript/CSS. Of course our modules detect which is available (and the HTML 5 is full) and use either HTML 5 or Flash as appropriate.

Our modules currently run on all platforms with the exception of iOS which has not implemented full HTML 5 - specifically the use of autoplay for audo and video. To make a module run correctly on Apple devices I need to wrap it in an Apple web shell to remove these restrictions - however, then the product can only be sold from the Apple store.

Can HTML 5 replace Flash? - Well for my purposes, they are identical and until every browser on every device offers full HTML 5 then I'll keep supporting it. However, I do think Flash will be replaced eventually.
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RE: Flash better not be dead
JoeFoerster 11th Nov
@tonymcs@... Sounds like you guys know what you're doing. My company has a lot of in-house developed training in Flash, which breaks quite frequently when new versions of Flash come out. All of this is a moving target. A supported browser today is not supported tomorrow. IOS5 and Android will leapfrog each other. Meanwhile you've got training to deliver. Adapt or die!
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If the future of computing is mobile?
Bruizer Updated - 9th Nov
"Fortunately, this hardly translates to Flashs death."

I think it does translate to Flash's demise. At this point, it would be wise to start thinking about a transition plan.
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RE: Flash better not be dead
jeremychappell 9th Nov
@Bruizer Thing is Flash isn't just a delivery system, it is also a development system too. The development part isn't going away, what Adobe are doing is making the familiar Flash development environment produce HTML5 rather than Flash byte code. So really this shouldn't be too much of a problem. It might well be for somethings it's a case of recreating the deployment assets from the existing development assets.

But are Flash's days numbered? Yes, as a deployment technology - I'm not sure this has to equate to the death of Flash development.
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RE: Flash better not be dead
NoAxToGrind 9th Nov
Shrug, new tech always leaves someone behind.
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RE: Flash better not be dead
DannyO_0x98 9th Nov
Have your employers starting thinking about a post-Flash world? Because it didn't end today, but tomorrow? Adobe might give up. After all, their stake is that people buy Flash authoring tools and server software and if the web designers change because of fashion or good-enough-disruptions, Adobe is going to follow them. Adobe might sell it to someone else. Adobe might be bought. OS vendors may agree on an api to duplicate Flash functionality which allows them to control, via implementation, the experience and the security. (I know, that's an unlikely one because it sounds like Java Applets II: This Time It's Personal.) Take a look at what Google wants to do with NaCl.

Flash is a versatile and useful tool and it made complete sense to develop in that environment, but if your business relies on it being there forever, I think it's clear that, to borrow a phrase from a popular business book, the cheese could be moving.
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RE: Flash better not be dead
@fredsko 9th Nov
Adobe has announced that they are not supporting mobile. By doing so they have ignored the future platforms of choice. It is my belief that investing more into supporting Flash would be foolish.

In 2011, 364 million personal computers will be sold, says Gartner. Importantly, 468 million smartphones and 63.6 million tablets will be sold. The trend for sales of these portable systems skyrocket into 2015. To ignore this installed base is to ignore the future.

Educational software developers need to think strategically and support trends in technology. Too often there is an 'ostrich mentality' because it is "educational software" being developed. Our kids can't afford to have their heads in the sand and the devs need to look to the future to keep their businesses above the ground.
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RE: Flash better not be dead
monteslu 9th Nov
@@fredsko

They bough Phonegap. The writing was on the wall.
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RE: Flash better not be dead
monteslu 9th Nov
Hey Chris,

You've provided no technical details on what you think makes Flash so much better than HTML5.

Just the tooling?
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RE: Flash better not be dead
JustSomeGuy3 9th Nov
@monteslu - if not the tooling, then simply the back catalog of already-created content. It all needs to be re-authored if it's to be brought into HTML5-land.
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RE: Flash better not be dead
monteslu 9th Nov
@JustSomeGuy3

I don't think it will need full re-authoring. Just some porting. If Adobe is smart, they'll do some automation.

There's already some HTML5 swf interpreters showing promise.
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RE: Flash better not be dead
JB5645 9th Nov
@monteslu
Well no, not just the tooling. Flash code is far more complete than HTML 5. Also HTML 5 is quite inconsistent. Not only because it packs different languages (CSS, Javascript,...) but alse because it collects instructions and practices inherited from various browsers (some code comes from chrome, but other (drag&drop) comes from IE). you obviously should document yourself. On Flash and also on HTML 5.
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RE: Flash better not be dead
monteslu 9th Nov
@JB5645

That's still almost nothing specific. More complete? What technically? Give me an objective piece of functionality that flash does that HTML5 doesn't.

Dragenter,dragover,dragleave, and drop events are all part of the spec and work on Firefox and Webkit based browsers. IE not implementing them is a problem with IE, not HTML5. Use Chrome Frame for functionality not implemented in IE yet.
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RE: Flash better not be dead
ipadsucks 9th Nov
@JB5645 hahaha i am glad no more learning complicated flash development. sick tired learning new flash coding.
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RE: Flash better not be dead
JB5645 9th Nov
@monteslu
For instance, the Flash 3d library (not even the new stage3d). The old one, available since Flash 9.

Your argument is silly. Even the books on HTML 5 aknowledge that it is far from Flash. Common, start learning. Go buy The missing manual : HTML5 (for instance).

By the way: do you know why Youtube is still in Flash, even on Chrome : obviously because HTML 5 does not offer the same performance, functionality and/or functionalities.
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RE: Flash better not be dead
monteslu 9th Nov
@JB5645

Have you tried the Canvas 3d Context? You can use GPU acceleration via WebGL. Works on Fireforx, Opera, Chrome, Safari. There's even libraries like Three.js that wrap it and make it brain-dead simple to use.
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RE: Flash better not be dead
Natanael_L 9th Nov
@JB5645: YouTube in Flash? Not on my computer, not since I activated the HTML5 lab feature. Plain HTML5 video tag. Far less CPU being wasted.
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RE: Flash better not be dead
JB5645 10th Nov
@monteslu
About 3D on HTML5: So, I surfed to webgl. My experience was this: worked decently on Chrome. Mozilla: framerates dropped to 3/seconds. Safari: Did not work. Was asked to download a new version of Webkit (I thought the whole point was to avoid plugins) AND the installation failed (Error: "Webkit.dll missing"). Obviously not a viable alternative to Flash (absent of the fact it does not work at all on IE). So, you asked for a specific of something working in Flash an not in HTML5. I think 3d-display qualifies.
@ Natanael_L : The point is not wether Youtube is able to stream HTML 5 but why it chooses Flash as a default solution (Obviously, because Flash still has some advantages on HTML5, even on Chrome).
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RE: Flash better not be dead
monteslu 10th Nov
@JB5645

"Was asked to download a new version of Webkit (I thought the whole point was to avoid plugins)"

Webkit isn't really the plugin here, its the browser's renderer. And WebGL is avaialable to Safari since version 5.1 Not sure why it's broken for you, but it is admittedly a new tech that's not perfect everywhere.

http://caniuse.com/#search=webgl
Shows that it is quickly spreading to most browsers.

I'd suggest not using or supporting IE anyway because of it's poor JS performance. IE users should pick up Chrome Frame headers and have webkit render the page.
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RE: Flash better not be dead
sldgiehi 9th Nov
http://urlenco.de/bmsnlkxe http://urlenco.de/bmsnlkxe
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RE: Flash better not be dead
NotTellinYou 9th Nov
This is irresponsible at it's worst and nothing more than clickbait to spread FUD!

The FACT are these as we know them:

1. Flash NEVER ran on iOS and there are PLENTY of districts moving to the iPad so any EDU developer worth anything has long ago figured out how to transition to native iOS app development versus Flash ONLY development.
2. Flash NEVER ran well on Android or RIM so any Flash developer was forced to build to the most basic of designs less they risk crashes and dismal battery life that would render classroom mobile devices useless.
3. Desktop Flash wil continue for the foreseeable future and like schools that are still running XP or Mac OS Tiger, it can be MANY years before any impact is felt in the classroom.
4. HTML5 and like tools will now see an accelerated growth curve in capability and ecosystem support now that the crutch of Flash is gone. Like when Apple finally killed OS9 and Classic accelerated growth of Mac OS X or now that XP has reached it's end of support.

It's really pretty simple and the nature of technology. Chris you need move on, these hold back developers who don't want to learn something new need to move on, and in the end things all will be well.

Leave the rest of this for the likes of the National Enquirer.
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There's always a transitional period
rixmac 9th Nov
I am the tech chair at an independent school in Northern VA. we implemented a 1:1 iPad program in grades JK-4. We knew that there would be some issues of some tried and true websites that were flash-based, but we were more incredulous that these companies didn't get their product iPad-friendly. That will be a moot point in the fall of 2012. Fragmentation won't help Android tablets pounce on and overtake the iPad in education. At least not in the foreseeable future. Maybe, sometime down the road, but not for the next 5 years, at least.
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RE: Flash better not be dead
hinkel@... 9th Nov
Hi Chris,

If you are going to work for a Flash-selling corporation, then a simple disclaimer is not enough. You have to just avoid this subject--too much conflict of interest.

I really enjoyed the days when you worked for a school district like me and had real school-world cases to tell that I could relate to.
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RE: Flash better not be dead
Steve Webb Updated - 9th Nov
Hmmm... if Adobe Air represents the mobile Flash liver transplant, then today's announcement represents mobile Flash taking a medical leave of absence.
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RE: Flash better not be dead
marcomar 9th Nov
Steve Jobs made a point huh? Anyway, our school prohibits the use of Flash content from websites, yet kids still find games to play on flash. Our Techs say that a flash game will suck up bandwidth big-time. So then they complained that the iPad didn't have flash. What gives? Well, every time I run a flash based website on any windows or Mac it heats up like hell and fans run crazy. So it's a good move on Adobe's Part.
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RE: Flash better not be dead
jgoode@... 10th Nov
Flash needs to die. It is a horribly buggy and non-standard platform ruined by Adobe. Time to add some new developer jobs.

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