Thoughts on Flash

Stealing title from the Steve Jobs' open letter somehow feels not only appropriate but also snuggly puts on the shoes of a "great artist" fighting for the better Web. I have expressed my feelings about Flash some time ago and now with the latest Desperate Plea and Petition we need to bring up the topic to the spotlight. It's a big, important subject that defines hefty a part of our strategy, so we try to employ as much forward-thinking to it as possible. Good news is that we managed to develop a fervid opinion; while "seemingly bad" news (for those who signed the plea, anyway) is that our stance doesn't favor further improvements in Dolphin's Flash-based components. Now, free your mind and let me try to reassure you...

Flash is bad

Flash is not an integral part of the open web, and it is obviously a technological "tumor" of Dolphin, or any other CMS for that matter. Both [the Web and the Dolphin that is] would benefit greatly if the same functionality could have been achieved without Flash. On top of that Flash is a tenuous performer on mobile platforms and we're entering the mobile personal computing era, mind you. No matter how powerful your computer is, opening a dozen of Flash-heavy web pages will bog it down. Moreover, Flash is increasingly unstable on desktops and we feel that from both user's and developer's sides. Flash doesn't let site visitors use their password/form managers; it doesn't let them copy-paste and save in a standard way; it loads as a detached part of the page; it doesn't adhere to the site's stylesheets; it isn't parsed by search engines; it limits use of open APIs; it limits content/URL sharing options; etc, etc, etc. It's a technology of the past that should not enter the future due to unfitting nature of the whole idea - it's a proprietary plugin - an extra layer of blurb between you and the web.

There are alternatives

While benefits of buying overpriced organic carrots may feel debatable, Flash alternatives feel just right. HTML5 is a proper open standard with bright prospects and healthy adoption pace. Smart use of AJAX and JavaScript often give great results without downsides of lost interoperability and compatibility. Alternatives evolve faster, and Adobe won't ever be able to keep up. No company can effectively confront entire world that's driven by a worthy cause.

What do you want us to design for, the future or the past?

The future it is

BoonEx will be purging Flash from our software wherever possible and as soon as we can come up with better options. In Dolphin 7.1, 7.2 and 8 expect the following:

- HTML-based Chat and Messenger, with Flash used only for the video streaming.

- HTML5-based video/audio content presentation, with Flash fall-back (until IE wombats wake up).

- JS-based controls even when Flash is used. Flash to be used only for the actual content streaming.

- Native Windows and MacOS apps instead of AdobeAIR app.

- Non-Flash admin controls for all apps/modules/plugins in Dolphin.

As a result you will be getting a fully-integrated package with all parts gracefully following your "site-wide" modification instructions - design elements, fonts, styles, and languages - all applied synchronically and without reservations.