Flash is Dead. Long Live HTML 5!
Does your business website still use Adobe Flash? If so, you will want to seriously consider making modifications to convert your Flash content to HTML5 now that it is finally gaining traction.
Before I get into why HTML5 is finally catching on, let's take a quick look at the rise and fall of Flash.
Why Flash Is Finished
Flash became popular because it was a quick and easy way to add eye-catching animations and interactivity on any website. Integrating Flash content added a new dimension to otherwise static websites created using the HTML4 standard programming language. And despite the fact that Flash is a proprietary Adobe Systems multimedia platform, the company offers a freely available Flash player plug-in for most common Web browsers that choose to support it.
For years, Flash was supported on every Web browser worth its salt. If a browser didn't support the plug-in, it prevented the user from seeing and interacting with a great deal of Flash multimedia content.
All of that changed, however, with the introduction of the original iPhone in 2007. Apple made the decision not to support Flash on the mobile version of their Safari Web browser. They reasoned that Flash was too resource-intensive and severely drained battery life.
Instead, Apple suggested that website owners develop mobile versions of websites that did not use Flash or begin implementing websites with HTML5.
HTML 5 Takes Center Stage
HTML5 is the open-source programming language that is the successor to HTML4. This new version natively supports most of the multimedia tools that previously required the use of third-party software such as Adobe Flash.
In addition, HTML5 was designed to better operate on low-power devices like smartphones and tablets.
The popularity of the iPhone and other mobile devices that don't support Flash drove many website administrators to drastically cut back on their use of Flash content. For years, website developers decided simply to revert back to static HTML4 websites as opposed to using the Flash-like features found in HTML5. The reasoning behind this was because HTML5 adoption had been very slow -- mostly because HTML5 was and is still is technically under development and the interpretation of the language can vary from one Web browser to another.
In other words, your HTML5 content might look one way in FireFox and look somewhat different in Internet Explorer.
But in the past year or so, modern Web browsers have pushed forward and have uniformly adopted most HTML5 features that developers are looking for. Because of this, major tech influencers including Google, Facebook and Twitter have been rolling out feature-rich websites solely using HTML5.
A final bit of proof that HTML5 is ready to be embraced by the masses is the recent news that Adobe has decided to cease any further advancements of their mobile Flash player for mobile operating systems. Instead, they will focus on creating tools to simplify the creation of multimedia content using HTML5.
When the company that owns Flash throws in the towel and embraces HTML5, it's safe to assume that you can, too.
