Another Flash in the pan

Mobile compatibility decides web platform’s future

The explosion in tablet computers and smart phone sales may signal the end of the ‘Flash Era’ for hospital web content.

Adobe Flash is a multimedia platform that introduced full video, animation, and interactivity on the web when HTML had little capability to do so. However, its usability, security, and performance have long been a source of controversy, most notably on mobile devices.

Apple has never allowed Flash on the iPad and iPhone, and has even gone as far as saying that Flash was the single largest cause for crashes on its desktop computers.

A critical vulnerability in Flash for Android devices in late October, 2010, even caused a recommendation for Android users to disable it entirely.

According to estimates, as of November 1st, 2011, Apple and Android make up approximately 80% of the mobile operating system market, with Apple having almost 62%. With the continued rise of tablet devices and smart phone usage, that is an extremely large user base that will not be exposed to any advertising or content solely relying on the Flash platform.

Basically what all of this boils down to is that in November 2011 Adobe announced the end of Flash for mobile platforms or TV, instead focusing on HTML5 for browser content, calling HTML5 the “best solution for creating and deploying content in the browser across mobile platforms.” While Adobe still plans to develop Flash for the PC, the end of the Flash Era seems near.

Microsoft’s Flash alternative, Silverlight, is going to be abandoned, too, after the launch of Silverlight 5. Microsoft had already indicated it considers HTML5 “the future” of the web. HTML5 is able to handle a lot of the capabilities of Flash, though still a new technology, while still being browser compliant and indexable by search engines.

Content is king on today’s web, and with a large mobile audience unable to experience Flash content, I believe that Flash’s goose may finally be cooked.