Written by me@grafxflow
15 Aug, 2012
13
2,429
UPDATE: Adobe decided to officially stop distributing and updating Flash Player after 31 December 2020. Below is a screengrab of the page which has adobe's message saying goodbye to flash...
Just got the news that Adobe have decided to drop support for Flash Player on android. A minor thing you may think.
In fact Flash Player 11 is no longer available to download on Google Play/Play Store. Adobe even plan to drop support all together for smartphones, which doesn't include Apple who have never supported the Flash Player (which I know is old news). They are even advising all androids users to uninstall the Flash Player.
So what does this mean for the future of Flash Player? Maybe its the fact that html5 is the new kid on the block. But I am also thinking about the Flash Developers/Designers who are more or less being told to forget mobile devices, and all the future forms of mobile technology.
But even worse, will we eventually see it dropped for PC or Mac. Or eventually dropped all together like Freehand. I do remember reading an article a year or so ago where somebody spoke of the future of flash being questionable. I smiled and thought who is this madman, flash has... and always will be around for years and years. But I have to admit after hearing the future plans for the Flash Player... it MAYBE on the cards.
I was for many years an avid user of flash and how it allowed freedom on a creative and technical front. But over the last few years of freelancing I have slowly noticed there is less call for flash work in studios (Not completely) or it is used only for banners on websites (Again not completely). But with the news that the likes of youtube and BBC iplayer are finding different technologies to play videos over the web, it does make the future of flash questionable.
Sad day for flash... or should that be sad future?
30 Mar, 2008
I am a Full-stack Developer who also started delving into the world of UX/UI Design a few years back. I blog and tweet to hopefully share a little bit of knowledge that can help others around the web. Thanks for stopping by!
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13 Response
Jedi Guru
16 Aug 2012
What's going on with google then... recently they seemed to have been attacked from all sides.
Adobe now dropping flash and apple ditching google maps from iOS6.
???
me@grafxflow
16 Aug 2012
Yes it seems that way, but lets face it, google are not a small company working from a little garage (Neither are Adobe or Apple).
Google have big plans too. They announced back in June 2012 that they had new 3D mapping features, offline maps and more available for android.
All these companies have one thing in common (Or should that be their share holders) and that is making lots of money from me and you. I have no issues with this since it makes a healthy market place for technology. I would never want to see one company controlling everything.
But I know this next paragraph will sound completely contradictory, I would also never want the market place to be flooded with TOO many kinds of technologies. I know so many developers who have concentrated most of their lives and careers on one or more forms of technology that now don't know which direction or trend to go with next.
As we all know trends DO change and again thats healthy... even big companies worldwide can loose their market share or maybe even disappear from the market place all together. Will facebook still be around in a few years? will apple? who's to say.
As to whether Adobes choice to drop Flash for mobile devices will see the end of Flash all together. I don't know, but if it was to happen I wouldn't be shocked.
Harsh thoughts!
Spystone
16 Aug 2012
I am not so sure if the statement about Google being victimised by Adobe is that true.
As far back as February 2012 Googles own Chrome Mobile Browser beta was no longer supporting Flash Player or perhaps it was joint decision between Google and Adobe.
Here is the statement by adobe on their own blog...
me@grafxflow
16 Aug 2012
Okay I stand corrected. Adobes announcement to drop Flash Player support for mobiles isn't that new.
From what I can understand they will concentrate their future development on AIR for mobiles and stick to Flash for desktop PC's.
Plus they are going to get involved more on the html5 side of things, by enhancing CSS like the following.
CSS Regions
Express magazine-like layouts with simple CSS.
CSS Shaders
Easily display cinematic effects for the web.
CSS Exclusions
Create islands of text for richer layouts.
CSS Compositing
Blending and Compositing for the web.
CSS Transforms
Unifying transforms & animations with CSS.
One thing for sure if it does make any changes to css3 or css4 internet explorer will be decades behind.
A little bit more knowledgeable?
Jedi Guru
16 Aug 2012
I don't get it. Adobe helping out with the future of CSS3. what's in it for them?
me@grafxflow
16 Aug 2012
Well I do use Dreamweaver for my CSS3 and PHP5 development!
I think as far as Adobe and Flash are concerned its a case of watch this space.
When it comes to the subject of CSS3, if there are lots of individuals and big/small corporations getting involved in shaping of the future of CSS3 then thats a good thing. CSS3 has so much to offer over CSS2 and luckily most of the popular browsers have and are incorporating this technology much quicker than in the past.
Seeing a nice future for CSS3!
Jedi Guru
21 Aug 2012
I think Flash maybe going the way of Director!
me@grafxflow
21 Aug 2012
I hear what your saying.
Back in the day (1990's and through to the early 2000's) CD-ROMS were the only main way of showing videos and the like. And if I remember correctly there was nothing else on the market that could do this other than Director. Via its coding language called Lingo it was capable of doing some very powerful things such as importing and using several formats which was great. I can even remember using the shockwave 3D integration for walkthroughs. But also at the same time I had been using Flash... which in hindsight was a good idea.
When the web started to become more popular, that gave Flash a bigger share of the market place. It become more powerful and gradually started breaking into what was once Directors territory especially video. Because of this it seemed Director was getting updated less and less, years seemed to be passing.
Also 3rd parties stopped upgrading their Xtras(plugins) for Director and even worse stopped producing them all together, which meant certain powerful functionality was no longer available. The programmers of Director didn't seem to be doing anything about it, by replacing these lost functions.
And finally there was less demand from clients for CD-ROMS and more demand for websites. But Director fought back with web based integration... mainly 3D games. But by then I think it was too late.
So I had a choice:
Well at first I actually did a cross between the three, and started importing the powers and advantages of Flash directly into Director casting library and used Javascript to communicate between the two (Lingo to ActionScript 2 and vice versa). But then Flash got upgraded to ActionScript 3 and AGAIN it took what seemed ages for Director to get updated to incorporate this. So I couldn't sit waiting around and eventually ditched it all together, for which I had no regrets.
Maybe the same is being played out with Flash.
Remembering the past!
Jedi Guru
21 Aug 2012
I was just reading up when Adobe brought out their first version of Director (Version 11) after buying out Macromedia and apparently there was a 4 year gap!!!
me@grafxflow
21 Aug 2012
You are making it all sound like Adobe's fault. But in reality Macromedia were just as much to blame for taking years to update Director. And if nobody is aware Macromedia owned Director for years until Adobe bought out Macromedia for US$3.4 billion back in 2005.
For now everybody still using Director (of which I suspect there a very few and in very specialist areas) are still asking what the future is for Director or more important is there a future? in fact they have been asking these questions going back for years and years. A lot of the recent updates for Director seem to be concentrating towards the gaming and 3D side, which I know Director wasn't originally created for.... but nobody should live in the past.
I don't know what the future is for Director since I haven't had any reason to use it for several years. The problem relates to what I have already stated, there are other products which can do certain things Director can do. So it's stuck in the middle not knowing which way to go for the future. Maybe Adobe know this and see it has a future demand in 3D games.
But really is there any call for using Director in the mainstream for studios these days. I sadly don't think so. Does it merit being purchased by a studio for perhaps one project every 2 or 5 years. Your call.
Don't get me wrong from my memories of using Director I enjoyed it and know it was very powerful. But I bet if I were to use the latest version it wouldn't be much different from the same one I used years ago.
Wondering if Director has a future but in all fairness... not really bothered!
The Fly
21 Aug 2012
Where you say...
They are also doing the same for Flash with something called Flash 3D (Molehill) APIs.
me@grafxflow
21 Aug 2012
Yes but this brings me back to what I was original discussing.
Flash no longer supporting Android
Surely all these new 3D games will not be viewable/playable on mobiles which must be a big issue for Adobe.
Going full circle.
me@grafxflow
27 Jan 2013
Quick update on Director: Apparently Adobe are going to be releasing a new version of Director V12, aimed at the mobile market. Statement from wiki...