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Flash or HTML5? It depends on the user


By David Rubinstein
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June 22, 2010 —  (Page 1 of 2)
If you’re creating software without a mobile consideration—such as for intranet portals or content-heavy, browser-based applications—Flash would be the best technology for the user interface. If accessibility from mobile devices is a requirement, HTML5 might be the better choice.

These are the observations of Anthony Franco, president and cofounder of the consulting company Effective UI, who said it’s becoming more critical than ever for people executing on the application’s front-end design to understand the needs of the user.

However, the conversation is made more complex by Apple’s refusal to allow the Flash runtime onto its iPhone and iPad devices. In an open letter posted to the Apple website in April, Jobs explained that Flash technology is not only proprietary, but claimed that it’s also old technology that uses too many resources and crashes too often. Adobe, of course, rebutted that Apple simply wants to keep tight control over everything that runs on its company’s devices.

The irony, according to UI designer Jeff Gothelf, director of user experience at TheLadders.com, is that Jobs is becoming a proponent of a very open standard HTML, while everything else Apple does is closed and locked down.

From Franco’s seat, the war between the technology giants “is not helpful for developers. The conversation has not progressed beyond ‘Apple sucks’ or ‘Adobe sucks.’ From the user experience, it’s annoying that I can’t see all content on the Internet on my iPad. That makes it a poorer user experience.”

Because of the rift, Franco said, developers have two choices: “They can either build [the application] twice, or build it less”—meaning the desktop- or browser-based application might lose functionality if it uses HTML5, which lacks the richness of Flash.

Most large enterprises are making the decision to build the application twice, said Franco. “It’s a philosophical question. The Holy Grail has been to write once and deploy anywhere. But that doesn’t address user adoption. The experience has to be built for the device people most want to use.”


Related Search Term(s): Flash, HTML, mobile development

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Comments


06/29/2010 01:32:32 PM EST

When it comes to video html5 or flash there is some javascript out there that means you dont have to write twice... see http://diveintohtml5.org/video.html

United Statesrichie_bee


07/05/2010 03:15:37 PM EST

I don’t like flash at all. To me it seems like a gimmick. Seeing a progress bar for a page to load is really disappointing. I like using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript when I’m working on a project. Flash to me, seems to be all about the outer beauty of a site or a intranet network. Actual coding makes a higher functioning site.

United StatesRacer-x9


07/07/2010 12:02:13 PM EST

I used to be a flash/Macromedia director programmer way way back in a former life. The amount of time and money that we spent on flash and other non-standard technologies is mind-blowing. It would be far cheaper for both businesses and users to adopt a common standard that does not require third party plugins. Flash had its day, get on with it and use HTML5 and the new video codecs. The more standardization we have on the web, the cheaper and easier it is for users and companies alike to share information.

United StatesBrian


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