Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

dsjr2006

macrumors regular
Jun 29, 2007
114
12
Metro Detroit
I was more interested in hearing about the next iPhone this afternoon, but the iPad is a neat product...EXCEPT for the fact that it doesn't render FLASH!

Jobs was up on stage telling everyone this product gives the "BEST" browsing experience. How is that possible if it doesn't support Flash? Almost every major site has Flash, and a majority uses it for its main content.

CNET
HULU
NY Times
Washington Post
CNN
ESPN

You name it. There are soooooo many sites that use Flash, yet the iPad won't support those sites. How IN THE WORLD does Jobs launch a product that doesn't support an almost standard in web site development?

I know Apple and Adobe don't see eye to eye, but this is ridiculous! I see the iPad as a very "nice to have" product, and to be honest I would buy one to use around the house IF it could browse the web as well as a regular browser.

The iPad without Flash support limits it to basically browsing like you're on a larger iPhone. How disappointing. This product HAD great potential, but without Flash it's very handicapped.
Most if not all of these will have or already have dedicated apps just like the iPhone which support video just fine without the need for Flash in the browser.
 

muskratboy

macrumors 6502
Jun 7, 2007
344
0
Adobe, not Apple dropping the ball on flash

http://download.cnet.com/8301-2007_4-10443090-12.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20

firefox mobile had to yank flash support because... drumroll... it's crap! yes, it's crap!

so... apparently there ARE some legitimate reasons for not including flash.

because it sucks. obviously.

write a decent plugin, adobe, and it'll go on the devices.

maybe quit blaming apple and yell at adobe a little, hmm? :D
 

jonbig08

macrumors newbie
Jun 22, 2008
24
0
I'm not a tech guy really, but right now, today, flash is a big deal for most people, whether they know it or not. It's a big art of the online experience and it stinks that the ipad doesn't have it.

My question is this: Can I use sites like megavideo with the ipad? The only thing I would use it for is watching movies. I have a mac pro for everything else. But it's not worth it for me if the only movies I can watch are youtube and itunes.
 

djourd

macrumors member
Dec 15, 2008
63
0
Are you kidding? Flash is a proprietary product from Adobe. While the browsing experience might be limited by lack of Flash, this should show you how pervasive this technology is.

The future is HTML5:

"HTML5 aims to reduce the need for proprietary plug-in-based rich Internet application (RIA) technologies such as Adobe Flash, Microsoft Silverlight, and Sun JavaFX."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTML5

Flash is very 1998, .. time to move on..

Yes!!! Look at all the stuff google is doing with HTML5
 

Buzz Bumble

Guest
Oct 19, 2008
802
2
New Zealand
The problem isn't that the iPad / iPod Touch / iPhone don't run Flash ... the problem is that so many fools still insist on using horrible Flash on their websites (or even for the entire website!). :(
 

marksman

macrumors 603
Jun 4, 2007
5,764
5
I'm not a tech guy really, but right now, today, flash is a big deal for most people, whether they know it or not. It's a big art of the online experience and it stinks that the ipad doesn't have it.

My question is this: Can I use sites like megavideo with the ipad? The only thing I would use it for is watching movies. I have a mac pro for everything else. But it's not worth it for me if the only movies I can watch are youtube and itunes.

If you frequent a site that runs flash, drop them a line and tell them to move to 2010.

Letting them know you like their site but want them to comply with modern standards will allow them to potentially make options available for their users.

Instead of people complaining about Apple, just talk to the sites you have a problem with and let them know. It is not exactly rocket science to not use flash when making a website.
 

jonbig08

macrumors newbie
Jun 22, 2008
24
0
yeah but the nonflash versions aren't as cool.

Do you need flash to use megavideo and DIVX?
 

happyslayer

macrumors 65816
Feb 3, 2008
1,031
579
Glendale, AZ
Personally, I hate Flash...

It seems to me that all it is really used for is those wacky, continuously moving little ads that distract me while reading info... (I know this may just be ADD (Squirrel!) but still.)

That's why I use ClicktoFlash to disable it on all sites - Just replaces them with gray boxes. I can still click to access flash content, but that happens rarely.

No flash, at least for the sites I frequent really wont be a big deal to me.

And I like one of the last posts that suggested that we email the site builders and ask them to start coding without flash... I'll try that myself.
 

Mad Mac

macrumors regular
May 15, 2008
190
0
This is as comical as the iPhone fanbois that tried to poo-poo MMS and insisting that email was the "Apple Way".

HTML5:
The standard isn't even ratified. They can't even decide what video codec to use. You can't even do full screen right now. HTML5 is worthless at the moment. So enjoy your "media" tablet that can't really play media.

Flash:
As mentioned by other sane posters, flash is everywhere and is absolutely needed if you want to watch content on Hulu and all of the major networks' websites. Of course Apple fanbois will pay to watch network shows via iTunes instead of watching it for free but that's a discussion for a later time.

Flash Or No Flash:
Want to know what's great? I can run the browser of my choice, turn flash on or off, and even run ad blockers. I'm glad I have the option to configure my browser for my needs.

With the iPad, you don't have any of those options because it's totally locked down. You can't even turn ON flash if you wanted. LOL. And since you can't install ad blockers, you're still getting flooded with ads. Talk about a double whammy. So much for speedy surfing. The justifications for not having flash are absurd, especially for something touted as a media platform.
 

REM314

macrumors 6502
Jun 1, 2009
265
0
Canada
Please keep the term "fail" in that manner on failblog. Saying it, especially in the title of a thread, makes you lose any credibility in any argument you put forward. Apple doesn't like flash, if you like flash then go buy that thing that Balmer showed off as CES. Theres competition for a reason...
 

firewood

macrumors G3
Jul 29, 2003
8,141
1,384
Silicon Valley
One of the first things I installed on my MacBook was Firefox with FlashBlock... that was a couple years ago.

I turned flashblock off a couple times, and lame sites with graphics that could have easily run on a 1MHz Apple II made the fans spin on my 2GHz+ C2D CPU. What a waste of battery power.
 

SnowLeopard2008

macrumors 604
Jul 4, 2008
6,772
18
Silicon Valley
Correction, Flash is fail. HTML5 is going to replace Flash. Flash is just a resource hog and Adobe is just too lazy to do anything about it. Apple isn't being defiant/stubborn towards Flash, it's pushing Adobe to make Flash better and less resource hogging. Until then, I'll use HTML5. Superior technology FTW.
 

t0mat0

macrumors 603
Aug 29, 2006
5,473
284
Home
Anyone seen a betTer implementation f cut and paste across a smartphone device?
MMS lack was AT&T issue moreso - hence UK etc having it before the US.

the 802.11n wasn't ratified before it CSM out on Apple products - Macbooks, MacBook Pros, Airport Extremes...

you can use HTML5 now. you don't need ratification to get started.

Google could open on2 -there are issues of codecs - but thy doesn't stop being able to use H.264. Apple has decided on Its codec for now. firefox has issues with H264 and that's there issue.

You can do full screen :) and it might even be able to do it on one screen whilst working on another screen unlike Flash.

HTML 5 isn't worthless just because some peoplANCan see the use of it.

Adobe can't force Flash. They could bargain withthir other products but that a risky strategy. They hav a buggy product that isn't 64bit and is a hog. A big fat resource hog.
What will people do when Hulu content gets non-Flash status?

flash isn't absolutely needed. We haven't seen the update to ATV. Apple is Working on that - they haven't sorted agreements out hence the lack of discussion of movie content and tv content on the iPad.
 

greygray

macrumors 68000
Oct 22, 2009
1,848
1
If you have an iPhone/ iPod touch, you jolly know that its Safari is not falsh-optimized. Yet, it pulls the other websites beautifully. However, the Tablet is a much bigger device which I believe web-browsing should be a main function. If it does not have Flash, I believe it's a true waste for such a powerful device.
 

Macmel

macrumors 6502
Feb 7, 2008
310
0
If you've used flash on a rev.a MacBook Air, you know how truly repulsive it is. The second I began watching even a SD video on Youtube via Safari, the fans would jump to 6200RPM, the computer would slow down significantly and it was just an experience I would not want to relive.

The iPad has a 1GHz processor and it is logical to assume that the iPad is not nearly as capable as even the Rev. A MacBook Air. If flash was crippled on that, I don't want to imagine it on the iPad.

There's Youtube (+Youtube HD), with many sites supporting iPhone optimized videos, and apps like the NyTimes app (with integrated, in-line video) eliminate the need for Flash on their sites. For the rest of the internet...We can either wait till Adobe releases a version of flash for OS X that doesn't suck, or we can hope that the rest of the internet does a, like marksman said, "upgrade".

What's repulsive? Flash or the crappy-crippled MBA revA? I watch videos on my $500 computer and on my MBP with no problem at all. Flash works perfectly fine.
Why when something does not work on a Mac is always that thing's fault? Why when a Mac lacks capabilities is always because they should not exist at all?
I was gonna buy the iPad, but two things put me away from it: the fact that ou can only install software through the Apps store (stupid) and the fact that you can't browse the web without Flash. And excuse me, if Flash is all over the internet you should make your device compatible with it, not try to make the whole internet compatible with your device.
 

Slip Jigs

macrumors 6502a
Feb 18, 2008
698
2

Well, that shows that HTML5 does have potential, and someday, if supported will be able to do what Flash can do NOW. But then, when that day comes, where will Flash can be even further ahead.

And for the people who claim Flash is a resource hog, etc - I've had more crashes and browser freeze ups (Windows) with Adobe reader and PDF's than Flash. And EVERYTHING supports PDFs!
 

MacBH928

macrumors G3
May 17, 2008
8,737
3,896
I don't understand how html5 will replace Flash, i know it can be interactive and play videos,
but I don't think it can run animated graphics like flash, flash is fun.

Either Apple releases its own flash player for its systems by working along with adobe,
or they join Microsoft on silverlight and offer a better option,

wasn't there a part at the beggening of the keynote where steve was browsing and on the website there was like a blue lego box showing missing plug-in for flash, and thats in the demo.
 

jw2002

macrumors 6502
Feb 23, 2008
392
59
It's pretty obvious that few if any of the 25 million iphone and ipod touch users out there miss the lack of Flash. There is nothing magical or irreplaceable about Flash content. In fact, a lot of users are finding that a Flash-free web experience is pretty pleasant, especially with Safari plugins like ClickToFlash that can keep such content from hijacking a web page.
 

canyonblue737

macrumors 68020
Jan 10, 2005
2,229
2,785
I don't understand how html5 will replace Flash, i know it can be interactive and play videos,
but I don't think it can run animated graphics like flash, flash is fun.

yes HTML5 can. that said it will be years and years until HTML5 is everywhere and until it will be years and years till I buy an iPad if Apple doesn't support Flash.
 

RebootD

macrumors 6502a
Jan 27, 2009
737
0
NW Indiana
I understand turning off Flash for mobile devices that suck batteries dry by themselves but the Pad has a huge screen which would take advantage of sites that are made with Flash.

Why market a device as the ultimate web browsing experience but with a disclaimer -please don't mind the vast amount of "plugin missing' icons all over your screen. Or just buy the code for safari's flash blocker and let the user decide to view it or not.

I'm not a big fan of flash, I use Adblock for firefox and also for Safari but that is just to block horrible popups but for sites that use Flash for video/90% of their content you are cutting those sites off from your market. Doesn't make sense.

yes HTML5 can. that said it will be years and years until HTML5 is everywhere and until it will be years and years till I buy an iPad if Apple doesn't support Flash.

Right like DHTML? Open standards take eons to get implemented and it's like not Flash is going away tomorrow. It's a necessary evil for now and there is no reason not to support it.
 

macordiefool

macrumors newbie
Dec 10, 2009
25
0
Canada eh!
Do everything be everything

Yes and I would like a Ferrari that is also a 4X4 pickup truck and a van.
Adapt.Improvise. Overcome.
Buy one or don't but stop complaining that it can't do everything and cure cancer.

Of course this is just my opinion and I could be wrong.
 

BaldiMac

macrumors G3
Jan 24, 2008
9,014
11,200
Right like DHTML? Open standards take eons to get implemented and it's like not Flash is going away tomorrow. It's a necessary evil for now and there is no reason not to support it.

Except that it will take even longer for the open standards to be implemented if nobody pushes for them.

There are basically two major uses for flash that everyone is complaining about: video and games. The changeover to HTML5 video tags is happening now. IE is the only major browser not to support it currently.

And with games, people seem to gloss over the fact that most of these games aren't designed to work with a multitouch interface. They are designed to work with a mouse and keyboard. They are useless on mobile Safari whether or not Flash is supported.
 

IBradMac

macrumors 68000
Jun 27, 2008
1,799
2
Ohio
A thought.....

Couldn't a developer make a browser for the iPad that had flash? A firefox browser could be super sweet on this tablet!!

Is it even possible?
 

koruki

macrumors 65816
Aug 16, 2009
1,354
671
New Zealand
Though I use to be a fan of Flash when it came out, lately FLASH = CRASH for me in terms of how many ram it eats up
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.