Flash is dead, long live … What?

July 8th, 2010

According to Steve Jobs, Flash is dead. He should know, because he’s the one holding the murder weapon. Flash is dead to Apple because they are not allowing it on the iPad, a device which otherwise would seem ideal for viewing the kind of rich media content the Flash platform excels at.

Obviously, Apple’s decision, and Jobs’ declaration, is not a prescient message from the future, but a company policy intended to protect the profits from their app store. They do not want their sexy device to be able to access all the rich content from the web, they want to be able to charge you for it instead. Even so, when someone like Steve Jobs declares Flash is dead, people take notice. So if the future is no longer Flash, … what is it?

Even before Apple weighed in, I’d noticed the demand for Flash has been on the wane. And even more noticeable has been the wavering interest of my fellow Flash devs. Symptomatic of these times, the Flash Brighton group, the collective home of the finest Flash designers and programmers in Brighton, is in the process of a rebrand, which will very likely include (gasp) dropping the word “Flash” from the group name.

On an individual level, I’ve seen many of Brighton’s finest recently devoting their attention to non-Adobe products. And these are the folks who know. So here are some of the technologies people have been playing with:

Unity – a 3D games engine, also banished from the iPhone via their T&Cs, but capable of some amazing browser based interaction. See http://blurst.com/ for many fine examples. If you want a Unity developer, may I recommend my friend and colleague Iestyn.

OpenFrameworks – a C++ framework, capable of creating multi-platform content. Ideal for interactive art, ambitious installations and audio-reactive work, but also capable of publishing to devices such as the iPad, iPhone and Android. This has been my own favourite toy of late.

Processing – a highly accessible language based on Java. Not so great for the web, but excellent for digital art, video or offline interactive work. For the web there is Processing.js, a JavaScript port, which is probably the best Flash animation alternative currently. I have written an introductory book on the subject of Processing, if you want to get up to speed that might be a good place to start.

HTML5 – this is Jobs’ answer to the lack of Flash on the iPad. Unfortunately, while HTML5 has a huge amount of promise, it is still many years away from Flash’s current power. Even if Adobe were to cease developing Flash/Flex today, by the time HTML5 had caught up the iPad will be a distant memory (because we’ll all have migrated to Android devices long ago).

Objective C – inevitably, many Flash devs don’t like being locked out of the platform-de-jour, so have been awarding their attentions to Objective-C, Apple’s OS language. Again, if you want an iPhone developer, there are people I can recommend.

Flex – while Flash demand is dropping, Flex demand has been on the increase. Flex app are still using the Flash Player, so they’re no more welcome on the iPad than any other breed of Flash, but it still remains the best solution for rich media online.

Personally, I disagree with Apple; there is still a future for the Flash platform. Although Adobe are going to have to pull their socks up to fight back, ignore Apple’s greedy posturing, and focus on all the things that HTML5 can’t do very well. Video for example. Or how about 3D?

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Posted in 3D, books, development, flash, flash brighton, flash player, flex, futurism, iPad, iPhone, innovation, javascript, open frameworks, processing, unity, web | 3 Comments »

Flash, Flex and Processing Work 2009

November 19th, 2009

It would seem the weight of guilt doesn’t get lighter by sharing, so this week I took two days out of my schedule to:

1. update the portfolio
2. implement the new site skin, designed by the very talented Charis (of WiredPortfolio) back in January.

Amongst the projects added from the last year are:

• A few new Flex jobs
• Two installations for the V&A in London
• A 3D installation for the Museum of Anthropology
  
• A Flash MP3 mixer
• A huge government eLearning project
• A delightfully silly set of Flash mini games
  

There’s also been a lot of extra-curricular (i.e. non-Flash) work this year, mostly Processing/Generative Art related. I’ve written a little about the “creative coding” book I’m currently writing (to be published in Summer 2010), but for fuller details of my Generative Art, my writing, and other more experimental work, you should visit my (award winning) personal blog here. Which is where, amongst other things, you can see a video of my work projected onto a Brighton church.

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Posted in 3D, awards, books, flash, flex, freelance, generative, processing | 1 Comment »

Flex for eLearning

September 21st, 2007

In the past I’ve had a hard job convincing colleagues and contemporaries of the value of Flex 2 (and the recently beta’d Flex 3). Firstly, it is not immediately obvious who Flex is aimed at; the Web Developers or the Flash Developers, (the answer is neither. Or perhaps both), so no-one is sure if it is their department. Secondly, because it is so new it is difficult to point to something on the web to say “there, that’s what Flex can do”, and blow people away with a cool demo.

But now Adobe have provided a useful resource to solve the second problem. Their new Flex Showcase, launched on Wednesday, is a directory of some of the pioneering Flex apps out there, with new apps being added every day. It is also a rather slick Flex application in itself, so instantly gives you a feel for the product.

I am convinced that Flex, and it’s sister app AIR, will dominate eLearning within the next five years, just as Flash is king today. Which is why the Futuremedia dev team are very interested in this technology. Even if many of our clients (without Flash 9) will not be able to use a Flex built course yet, we are developing in-house tools using Flex2 in preparation.

There will doubtless be lots of Flex evangelism at this year’s Flash on The Beach conference, and Flash Brighton are organising a Flex event to follow, both of which we are looking forward to. But for now, if you want further information and opinion you can also read my recent review of the book Programming Flex 2, or to get a feel of the product in action, go explore the showcase.

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Posted in books, conferences, development, eLearning, flex, fotb, innovation | 5 Comments »