The End of Flash?
Using Flash, we could deliver the same experience to practically everyone, regardless of their browser or operating system, or whether they were at home or work. Flash has been a huge benefit in the enterprise sector, where browsers are often years out-of-date – believe it or not we still have to support Internet Explorer 6 for some of our larger clients. But this decade of relative stability is coming to and end; we are entering an era of heterogeneous technology and multiple formats, and for anyone involved in content this presents a major challenge.
"The challenge to the dominance of Flash is a by-product of the increasing importance of mobile content."
Why worry about Flash?
The challenge to the dominance of Flash is a by-product of the increasing importance of mobile content – and the simple fact that Apple doesn't support Flash on its mobile products.
As of January 2011, Apple had sold 160 million products running its Flash-unfriendly iOS operating system, and the numbers are growing at a staggering pace. Part of Apple's non-Flash stance is certainly about market power and politics (who will dominate the web?) and partly about technology: Adobe has had problems translating Flash for mobile platforms that are much less powerful than a PC.
Whatever you might think about Apple's approach, 160 million iPhones, iPod Touches and iPads is a very large number of devices not to support if you plan to deliver mobile content. Since Apple has no plan to support Flash, we need another way to deliver. Of course, other mobile operating systems do support Flash, but I have seen few reports that such content is a great experience for the user. In my view, the market position of its products means you should seriously consider Apple whenever you think about delivering mobile content.
Why Flash is still relevant for content
At the same time, web technologies are maturing, with HTML5 paving the way for new rich online experiences. HTML5 sounds like a great solution: it's standardised (more or less) and it works on most new browsers and, crucially, all major mobile browsers.
The main problem with HTML5 is its application within organisations. While your computer at home might have the newest version of Chrome or Safari, locked-down corporate environments (often managed by overworked and cautious IT departments, or 'no' departments) still run old versions of Internet Explorer. As a software provider of enterprise solutions, we have to be able to deliver on our clients' technology – a problem shared by all e-learning creators.
"For now, the best way to deliver consistent, rich experiences for all of our enterprise customers is to keep using Flash."
So, for now, the best way to deliver consistent, rich experiences for all of our enterprise customers is to keep using Flash. But at the same time, we can't rely on Flash to support mobile delivery. This dilemma is one reason why we're seeing this move towards a heterogeneous delivery model, but I believe there's another.
Technology affects content
Different technologies, and the varied contexts in which people use them, give rise to different types of content. For example, the layout and presentation of information in books and magazines has been driven by the technology of the print medium and how people read from the page. In a similar way, computer screens and tablet touch displays deliver interactions and communicate messages in different ways. They require a different approach to design and deliver to make the most of their strengths.
"We should deliver learning experiences that suit the technology they are delivered on and the context in which they are 'consumed'."
Each technology enables a slightly different type of learning experience. E-learning interactions that are effective on a touch tablet won't be the same as those that work on a PC with a mouse and keyboard, and vice versa.
I don't think we should even be aiming to deliver content in the same way to mobile devices, tablets and PCs. Instead we should deliver learning experiences that suit the technology they are delivered on and the context in which they are 'consumed'.
For Mohive, we decided to stay with Flash for the PC – in other words, for the corporate environment. But, to take account of the mobile market, we still store content as structured XML, which can be delivered in multiple formats, so you can create content both for the web and for delivery in HTML5 to mobile and tablet devices.
Flash's star hasn't faded yet, but there are other, more mobile, lights in the sky. |
|
