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So on the eve of Flash dying, a story of a meeting with the flash team.
In 2010, the idea of Flash on mobile was still a thing. The Flash team was insisting they could make it work. It was available on Android, and it was bad.
Flip book frame rates, killed battery life...
In 2010, the idea of Flash on mobile was still a thing. The Flash team was insisting they could make it work. It was available on Android, and it was bad.
Flip book frame rates, killed battery life...
...even the most rehearsed demo by Adobe was not resounding reason for it.
There was a Flash evangelist, who I won’t name, who kept insisting Flash performance was good and getting better, and that in spite of zero evidence of this, it was eeebul Apple’s fault.
Somehow.
There was a Flash evangelist, who I won’t name, who kept insisting Flash performance was good and getting better, and that in spite of zero evidence of this, it was eeebul Apple’s fault.
Somehow.
My website at the time wasn’t nigh moribund and I was dragging the guy and the idea *hard*.
I mean, this dude’s “advice” was get a new phone every time a new model came out until you got lucky.
It was a complete fucking clown show. But like drunken strip mall clowns.
I mean, this dude’s “advice” was get a new phone every time a new model came out until you got lucky.
It was a complete fucking clown show. But like drunken strip mall clowns.
So, since I had a decent relationship with the Adobe installer team, during Macworld that year, I somehow got a meeting with the Flash team.
I thought it was weird too, and there was some betting as to whether or not I’d get flung out a window.
There was *beef*
So I went.
I thought it was weird too, and there was some betting as to whether or not I’d get flung out a window.
There was *beef*
So I went.
I mean, why not? Get a chance to talk to them.
The meeting was...so the installer team had been great. They knew their shortcomings and had the beginnings of a plan to fix things, and explained how things had gotten so bad.
The Flash team...
The meeting was...so the installer team had been great. They knew their shortcomings and had the beginnings of a plan to fix things, and explained how things had gotten so bad.
The Flash team...
...the engineers were great. Like honestly y’all, Flash is like a talking dog: the fact it ever worked *at all* is amazing. The work that plug-in was trying to do was crazy, but I could also see why it had so many problems, and why it was doubtful those would be fixed.
The rest of it was this weird thing where they seemed to think if they explained it right, I’d somehow ignore the evidence in front of my eyes and agree that flash was not only great, but critical.
I thought it was weird because honestly, I was a Mac IT blogger.
I thought it was weird because honestly, I was a Mac IT blogger.
I had the, may still have, the foulest mouth in the MacIT arena, but at it’s HEIGHT, my site traffic was fuck all & nothing.
The should have gone after Gruber. He had readers. (Maybe they did? Dunno.)
But I was the LAST guy that what they were trying to do was going to work on.
The should have gone after Gruber. He had readers. (Maybe they did? Dunno.)
But I was the LAST guy that what they were trying to do was going to work on.
And it was like they were only willing to do things “their” way.
I tried to point out that since we all knew *Adobe* had a Dev account or 12, they could easily build a copy of Flash on an internal device, and show it running, since deploying that way bypassed the App Store.
I tried to point out that since we all knew *Adobe* had a Dev account or 12, they could easily build a copy of Flash on an internal device, and show it running, since deploying that way bypassed the App Store.
I mean, they’re telling me Flash actually works great on an iPhone, fuck, show it. Hell, put it on a phone and show *me* there in the meeting.
Nope. App Store or nothing. (Did I mention I didn’t work for Apple, never have, and had zero influence with Steve Jobs? Okay, that.)
Nope. App Store or nothing. (Did I mention I didn’t work for Apple, never have, and had zero influence with Steve Jobs? Okay, that.)
I pointed out that maybe, instead of letting the worst blogger in the world essentially be their main interface to the public, they should start talking to people via blogs and interviews.
No, people would be mean, just look at how they were to the Worst Blogger In The World...
No, people would be mean, just look at how they were to the Worst Blogger In The World...
...like I’m not exaggerating, even *Scoble*, who is less sentient than a tapeworm and half as useful had more self-awareness than this guy.
I tried to point out that most of WBITW’s aggro was well-earned.
Nope, everyone would respond to them the same way.
I tried to point out that most of WBITW’s aggro was well-earned.
Nope, everyone would respond to them the same way.
To be fair, given how shitty Mac bloggers were about Kevin Lynch when he left Adobe for Apple (before we knew he was hard of the Apple Watch team, or that there was an Apple Watch), I kind of have to now give them that point.
I also tried to point out that the days of needing Flash to cut a hole in a browser to view moving pictures & sound, aka video were clearly numbered. YouTube had *just* started supporting HTML5 for that.
The writing was on the wall. Not in a huge font con blink tag, but there…
The writing was on the wall. Not in a huge font con blink tag, but there…
...and that they should start *now* to move (this meeting may have been in 2011...but I’m 80% sure it was 2010) their animation tools, which at the time were better than anything else to HTML 5 + CSS.
Nope. Flash would ALWAYS be needed for video, it would ALWAYS be needed...
Nope. Flash would ALWAYS be needed for video, it would ALWAYS be needed...
...and it was the best solution on mobile.
I was like “y’all, don’t know what to tell you. You’re dead wrong here and if you don’t accept that and pivot now, well, that’s your choice, but the days of needing flash for video are ending. Soon.”
By 2013, flash on mobile was gone.
I was like “y’all, don’t know what to tell you. You’re dead wrong here and if you don’t accept that and pivot now, well, that’s your choice, but the days of needing flash for video are ending. Soon.”
By 2013, flash on mobile was gone.
And I left. It was a nice polite meeting, but to this day, I still feel like it was never intended to be a discussion, but rather some IRL internet debate where once I truly understood, I’d see why Adobe was right.
Guess they weren’t.
/fin
Guess they weren’t.
/fin
