No Flash on the iPad -- here's why...

[Aeaea]

An Adobe Flash developer on why the iPad can’t use Flash

"Current Flash sites could never be made work well on any touchscreen device, and this cannot be solved by Apple, Adobe, or magical new hardware.

"That’s not because of slow mobile performance, battery drain or crashes. It’s because of the hover or mouseover problem.

"Many (if not most) current Flash games, menus, and even video players require a visible mouse pointer. They are coded to rely on the difference between hovering over something (mouseover) vs. actually clicking. This distinction is not rare. It’s pervasive, fundamental to interactive design, and vital to the basic use of Flash content. New Flash content designed just for touchscreens can be done, but people want existing Flash sites to work. All of them—not just some here and there—and in a usable manner. That’s impossible no matter what."

Whole article:

http://www.roughlydrafted.com/2010/0...ant-use-flash/

[NineSwords]

Makes actually more sense than the "adobe is lazy" argument.

[Thunderclaw]

Yea but can't Apple create some kind of touchscreen technology that senses if the finger is close or not?
But why not implement flash anyway. Hulu, for example barely relies on cursor sensing yet it uses Flash and is one of the most visited websites for viewing TV shows.

[NineSwords]

Are you actually suggesting that Apple should spent millions in a new technology to "sense" a finger hovering over te screen just so they can run some flash apps that are outdated in a few years anyway? And don't be mistaken. HTML5 IS the future of the web and will replace flash over time.

[Thunderclaw]

No no, I wasn't suggesting that, although that would be nice. I am aware that HTML 5 is the future, but we're in the present.
However, Apple should start developing some kind of touch-less technology, as that's where the future will be, with the Wii and Project Natal and whatnot.

[NineSwords]

Do you have a Wii? I had and if thats the future I rather stay in the present. Wanna know what happened to my Wii?



And the only thing that makes Proj. Natal interesting for me is that Johnny Chung Lee joined the Natal team. If his work could be incorporated into natal we could see fake 3D games in this console generation without a special TV or googles. I'll keep on the fence with that one though until I see it running and not just being a gimmick like the Vision Can or the PS Eye.

And one more thought. I have a Wacom Tablet and it senses the stylus hovering above the surface. This really really annoys the hell out of me. Sure, this is to a great part due to the fact that the windows OS isn't build for that kind of input but in my book sensing something hovering over the screen isn't really a desirable effect.

[shigzeo]

I think that there are many factors - this is certainly one of them. But Flash is and always be a proprietary tech. It needs to be taken from the internet because it has nothing to do with standards and the web, a 100% public domain needs to be be based on standards.

[VejOut]

Not all uses of flash use the "hover" so while that would certainly be frustrating for those sites that do use it, at least much other Flash content wouldn't be just a "missing plug-in" icon, like the news scrollers, forms, players, etc. Also, a click-and-hold works for many menus as well.

I'm willing to live with the limitations of the device as long as I'm not blocked from at least seeing it.

[Jim]

if there's a web standard, SUPPORT IT! Period. Not much to talk about it!