Flash vs. Apple

[testing]

So, evidently Steve Jobs doesn't like my beloved Adobe, and he said he doesn't need Flash for his iPhones, yadda yadda yadda. Stupid billionaires and their egos, honestly... :/ messing with my life.

http://scitech.blogs.cnn.com/2010/04/30/adobe-responds-to-apples-flash-snub/?iref=allsearch

Problem is, I use Flash regularly, and am currently trying to learn more about it, and improve my knowledge of Action Script as well. (I am not so much of a programmer, but I'm trying.)

Was wondering if any of you computer types had any thoughts on this. Do you think Flash is going the way of the dodo? If so, what would you focus on learning instead (if you were me) to keep your skills current & marketable?

 

[WaeV]

http://www.apple.com/hotnews/thoughts-on-flash/

I think their point regarding battery life is well-founded.

Also, I don't think they're saying that closed systems are the devil, it's just that there are a bunch of problems with flash which they can't fix themselves. Because Unix is open, Apple can take that and fix it to their liking and lock it down. HTML5, CSS, and Javascript are all open, so Apple can write their own interpreters and such. Since flash is closed, Apple can't fix the problems themselves has to rely on Adobe to fix the problems, which they find unacceptable. It's about providing a solid product, as I see it, not about the ethics behind open/closedness.

 

[NeverAmI]

Flash is still very strong. IMO Apple is making a huge mistake. Combine that with the fact that they still honor only one mobile carrier and there is a HUGE opportunity for Android to pick up a good percentage of the market share.

Apple has always done their own thing, keeping everything proprietary and locked down. This is a business model that is different from Microsoft but it works. It creates a following that is sort of elitist and that is what they want. I am not 100% sure why Apple keeps resisting flash, but I think it is just REALLY poor performance. And so they try to talk down Flash due to that. Android has flash support and for that reason coupled with more features I would be much more inclined to get a tablet/pad device based on that. Same with mobile.

Microsoft has been competing with Silverlight, Java with JavaFX. Microsoft is a very clear and obvious threat to flash, but I don't see Flash going away anytime soon. Microsoft has an insane influence with marketing their products since they already have such strong ties to companies, they often get companies using their software even if it isn't the best product on the market simply due to convenience and deals. I don't think Flash will completely become obsolete until a new web technology comes out that fundamentally incorporates the robust multimedia coding into an all encompassing framework (think Ajax but much more)

 

[testing]

Thanks everyone! I'm currently wading my way through an Action Script class and couldn't help wondering if it was on its way to obsolete... as I was trying to stay focused on the material and not really succeeding.

If I actually master this, maybe I will move on to Ajax or something.