iPad popular on Twitter, biggest complaint is no Flash

Wow, quite a thread.

It's seems the majority of the Flash haters on here are part of one or more of the following groups:

- hate it because they are an Apple consumer / Steve says so
- hate it because used for advertisement
- hate it because they've had an encounter with a poorly-designed application

As a Flash developer for the last decade (educated in programming, even took a couple courses on Flash back when), allow me to clear up some of the inaccuracies in a lot of these posts, while agreeing with others and predicting how HTML5 is not likely not make your life any better in the near future...

"Web standards are about bringing the same browsing experience to everyone regardless of platform."

-> Flash does this well - a Flash application looks/acts the same in all browsers, well those not developed by Apple at least.

"Flash is good for games, and that's it."

-> Wrong, and although it's working well for video streams, Flash is perfect for vector-based animation - the very thing it was designed for.

"I know I love continually flash ads that take up 79% of my screen Isn't flash the app to surprise us with a real loud audio snippet?"

-> I can't imagine someone would think of using HTLM5 for this would they? You'd better start developing an HTML5 blocker!

"Flash really needs a mouse. There's nothing in actionscript 3 for supporting multitouch."

-> It may not support multitouch yet, but Flash works fine on a touchscreen, the same way other 'clickable' things work. I realize you’d have to be on a non-Apple mobile device to know this!

"How long are we going to depend on browser based plugins for a functionality that makes no sense in a 'browser'"

-> Makes no sense? Exactly what functionality would that be, and how would HTML5 solve this?

"Flash has few redeeming qualities as a web technology. Anyone who decided to deliver their content using Flash should have been prepared to deal with the consequences of locking themselves in to a proprietary format controlled by Adobe."

-> The few redeeming qualities must explain its lack of saturation on the ‘Net! Just like anyone purchasing an Apple mobile device should be prepared for their own consequences right?

Like I said, Flash is meant for vector (and mild bitmap) animation with a powerful developer tool and object-oriented language. I can just imagine trying to do half as much in HTML5, and I cringe at needing to code/debug in JavaScript to do so - yuck. Why do some Flash movies suck? Because the developer doesn't know what they're doing. It's the developer that sucks, not Flash. It's no different than acknowledging that half the people with licencses shouldn't be driving!

My Flash applications load quickly, without hogging CUP and bandwidth. They are developed properly and are non-intrusive. I can create them quickly and easily, providing a rich web experience. I’m not trying to gloat, just pointing out that anything can suck if designed poorly.

HTML5 video instead of Flash - fine with me. People can figure out a whole new way to protect them from being downloaded or recorded.
HTML5 ads instead of Flash - great, more content-blocking software to consider.

"I doubt that Apple will ever support Flash and I believe the reason is more a business one than a technical one."

"It's not about quality of web browsing (or they would equally shut Flash out on OSX), it's all about bypassing the App Store and porting all those flash minigames and whatnot on the iPad. Pure and simple. I hate how Apple hides behind Flash performance while the real reason is keeping all apps passing through the App Store."

“As much as Adobe could fix flash, Apple could give users the option. We've yet to see how flash runs on iPhone OS, maybe it would run well, we don't know."

-> This is very likely the real reason why Flash might not work well on Mac, and will never be on Steve’s creations. It runs pretty well on my Andriod too. Scared Steve? It looks to me like Apple doesn't want Adobe to fix it, if it even needs fixing.

"The problem is that there is NOT a better way to deliver the content that Flash currently does without it."

-> Exactly, and you'd think Apple would want to make TODAY's content available to its users!

"That my whole issue with it though. Right now if I want to see a flash site I have to wait till I'm at my computer. The iPad is supposed to give you the whole web (better than a netbook), preventing that "wait till you're near a

I think Apple could cave, if it came down to a choice between sales or putting flash on the iPad. They eventually gave in to radio and video on the iPod. I have an online petition about flash on ipad at flash4ipad.com

We gave it some thought...here is why we think Apple decided to not support Flash:
http://www.rainydaymagazine.com/RDM2010/RainyDayEngineering/Week11/RDEMar1510.htm#NoFlash

We think they are right.

My biggest complaint about the iPad is lack of video output (e.g. mini-DVI or anything).

What's the point of making a Keynote application if you can't connect to a projector via an adapter (e.g. whatever-connection-they-decide-to-use to VGA)?

Just sayin :)

No it's not a competitor to notebooks, nor netbooks

F**K FLASH!
The web needs to move beyond the ridiculous inefficiency and pure cpu cycles waste with accompanying destruction of battery life.
Flash is good for games, and that's it.
It served it's purpose doing video before we got html based video, and it served it's purpose for interface before we got advanced CSS.

KILL ADOBE'S STRANGLEHOLD

The iPad was supposed to compete with notebooks but due to lack of flash support I think they lost the battle before it even started. A mobile full web experience was my expectation, they stated in some of their ads that the iPad can manage flash but that's not even close to the real capabilities. Here is another source of information: http://www.thehdstandard.com/general-discussion/no-flash-support-on-apples-tablet/

Catalin
Professional Streaming Consultant

The title of my recent blog entry sums up my feeling about this: 'No Flash on the iPad? Good!' - http://wp.me/pKXV8-oj

Who's against Flash?

I know I love continually flash ads that take up 79% of my screen.

Is there any better software than acrobat?

Well except acrobat pro for $799

Or photoshop in a big box for $4,000.

Isn't flash the app to surprise us with a real loud audio snippet?

It's the best app that requires a daily upgrade download (next to the real player).

They added DRM last year, I know I voted for that.

there are two things on the web that require an opt out - flash home pages & spam email - we need more opt out.

what's the internet without a plug in?

they love the mac as much as autocad.

it's not easy to sell software PC users consider slow and buggy ...

This isn't a theoretical discussion -- "Well, it doesn't have Flash, so I'm not going to purchase it."

It's more like: "You mean I can't watch ESPN360 or Hulu or NYT videos or GMA videos or random videos posted by people that I want to see?"

No one cares about Flash. They care about seeing the videos they want to see.