With Apple's official stance on Flash so clearly stated by Steve Jobs, the big question is the potential impact of the Flash vs. Mobile Issue for online advertisers and marketers specifically.
In reality, apps across mobile devices are still about native frameworks / APIs, and not a question of Flash or not; to date, anyone who wanted to build an experience optimized for a mobile device would use the libraries and tools for native application development, with the occasional exception, like rapid application development tools or other meta-platforms, of which Flash could be considered one. Apple’s arguments are valid regarding Flash – it solves some real problems, but it’s targeted to a completely different platform / environment. What all good developers have known for a while is developing our applications in a fashion where the presentation / interaction is decoupled from the underlying logic and data driving your application, so you can present an experience appropriate to the target channel /platform based on context, device capabilities, etc., is already considered a best practice, but one we can’t always follow, especially where we have very specific requirements, like online media. For clients of ours in or just entering the mobile space, it will be interesting to see how they steer developers – I’m sure it will be to native apps, in which case, the Flash vs. HTML5 argument is a less relevant one.
As marketers, we need to think about engagement and interaction beyond the constraints of a single specific technology platform or application. We need to embrace the idea of adapting our creativity to different mechanisms of delivery, with a focus on open standards and technologies that represent the future. Flash isn’t going away. Flash will be a part of what we do for a very long time. But it will be just one part of it. However, rich and engaging interactive experiences will always be a big part of what we do. Our objective now should be to leverage our existing tools to craft assets and experiences that can adapt to their ever-fragmenting online world. It’s a challenge we’ll all embrace together.
In reality, apps across mobile devices are still about native frameworks / APIs, and not a question of Flash or not; to date, anyone who wanted to build an experience optimized for a mobile device would use the libraries and tools for native application development, with the occasional exception, like rapid application development tools or other meta-platforms, of which Flash could be considered one. Apple’s arguments are valid regarding Flash – it solves some real problems, but it’s targeted to a completely different platform / environment. What all good developers have known for a while is developing our applications in a fashion where the presentation / interaction is decoupled from the underlying logic and data driving your application, so you can present an experience appropriate to the target channel /platform based on context, device capabilities, etc., is already considered a best practice, but one we can’t always follow, especially where we have very specific requirements, like online media. For clients of ours in or just entering the mobile space, it will be interesting to see how they steer developers – I’m sure it will be to native apps, in which case, the Flash vs. HTML5 argument is a less relevant one.
As marketers, we need to think about engagement and interaction beyond the constraints of a single specific technology platform or application. We need to embrace the idea of adapting our creativity to different mechanisms of delivery, with a focus on open standards and technologies that represent the future. Flash isn’t going away. Flash will be a part of what we do for a very long time. But it will be just one part of it. However, rich and engaging interactive experiences will always be a big part of what we do. Our objective now should be to leverage our existing tools to craft assets and experiences that can adapt to their ever-fragmenting online world. It’s a challenge we’ll all embrace together.
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