Really?

I don't think so.  Like what?  Even on Android, many devices don't support 
Flash.

Ricardo Walker
[email protected]
Twitter & Skype: rwalker296
www.mobileaccess.org

On Nov 11, 2011, at 2:13 PM, Teresa Cochran wrote:

> Well, there are blind folks who use other mobile devices that primarily use 
> flash. In that sense, this will give us more options. It may set the standard 
> in future for flash not being the default for media on the web.
> 
> Teresa
> 
> "Visualize whirled peas."
> 
> On Nov 11, 2011, at 10:34 AM, Daniel Miller wrote:
> 
>> Hi,
>> 
>> I'm completely perplexed as to why this is a good thing? iOS never supported
>> flash in the first place, so doesn't that mean nothing for us? Unless I'm
>> missing the point that they're concentrating all there efferts on HTML5?
>> Someone explain?
>> 
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: [email protected]
>> [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Esther
>> Sent: Friday, November 11, 2011 12:28 PM
>> To: [email protected]
>> Cc: [email protected]
>> Subject: Re: Adobe Flash - This is amazing news for us!.
>> 
>> Hi Cara and Others,
>> 
>> Actually, the more interesting comment on this was the Matt Legend Gemmell's
>> "rewrite" of the announcement on his blog, which presented his condensed
>> version of how Adobe should have written this announcement for both clarity
>> and better relations.  I'll excerpt his comments posted after the original
>> Adobe announcement, and you can go the original blog pageon "Adobe
>> Communication", which was linked by John Gruber's Daring Fireball blog:
>> http://mattgemmell.com/2011/11/09/adobe-communication/
>> <begin excerpt>
>> Pretty bad. It's far too long, and they're overly eager to sound like it's
>> business as usual. The fact is, despite being somewhat late, Adobe is doing
>> a really brave and clever thing. The wording above dilutes that, which is a
>> shame.
>> 
>> Here's my version, which says the same thing:
>> 
>> Adobe's goal is to help you create engaging content. Flash has served that
>> goal for more than a decade, often inspiring new features of HTML, and has
>> been very popular on mobile devices as well as the desktop.
>> 
>> However, HTML5 is now supported on more devices than Flash, and we're
>> excited about it. We're committed to HTML5, so Flash Player 11.1 will be our
>> last version for mobile devices, except for bug fixes and security updates
>> (though source code licensees may still release their own implementations).
>> Instead, we'll focus on helping Flash developers create Adobe AIR apps for
>> the major app stores.
>> 
>> We're still actively working on Flash Player for PCs, and the recent new
>> version 11 introduced exciting features like hardware accelerated 3D
>> graphics and HD video. We plan to keep driving innovation online, and we're
>> devoted to web standards.
>> 
>> We think the future is bright for Flash and HTML5, and we can't wait to see
>> it.
>> 
>> To my eye (or rather, mental ear), this version sounds more earnest.
>> Sincere, upbeat, and well-considered - without the sense of nagging
>> insecurity and a need to prove itself.
>> 
>> Take time to think about your own professional communications. Don't accept
>> biz-speak as the right solution, regardless of how ubiquitous it is. Be
>> human, and engage directly with people - they'll respect you for it, and be
>> more willing to give your business a chance.
>> <end excerpt>
>> 
>> Just to remind you, Matt Legend Gemmell wrote a great blog post some months
>> ago exhorting developers of iOS apps to consider ensuring accessibility in
>> their products, and outlining in detail how easy it was to achieve this in
>> many cases with the existing tools.  The original article is linked the the
>> AppleVis site, but if you want the link to read it yourself, here's the link
>> (below).  It's a great read.
>> * Accessibility for iPhone and iPad Apps (December 19, 2010 blog post):
>> http://mattgemmell.com/2010/12/19/accessibility-for-iphone-and-ipad-apps/
>> 
>> HTH.  Cheers,
>> 
>> Esther
>> 
>> 
>> On Nov 11, 2011, at 07:06, Cara Quinn wrote:
>> 
>>> I thought all of you might find this really interesting. This is actually
>> really amazing news for us in the blind community!
>>> 
>>> This is the first step to dealing with some of the extraordinarily
>> difficult issues we've all had at times in accessing important content on
>> the web!
>>> 
>>> This is truly a wonderful step! woohoo!
>>> 
>>> Smiles,
>>> 
>>> Cara :)
>>> ---
>>> Adobe discontinues mobile Flash Player
>>> 
>>> Sylvie Barak
>>> 
>>> 11/9/2011 3:51 PM EST
>>> 
>>> MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--Adobe Systems Inc. announced Wednesday (Nov. 9) it
>> will restructure its operations, a move which will result in layoffs for
>> some 750 employees and the discontinuation of Flash Player for mobile
>> devices. The upcoming release of Flash Player 11.1 for Android and
>> BlackBerry PlayBook will be the last update to the software.
>>> 
>>> In a shocking 180-degree twist, Adobe said in a blog post it would no
>> longer be working to adapt Flash Player for mobile to new browsers, OS
>> versions or different device configurations, and that it would instead focus
>> on building applications for mobile and investment in HTML5 - long
>> considered a rival standard.
>>> 
>>> "HTML5 is now universally supported on major mobile devices, in some cases
>> exclusively," wrote Danny Winokur, vice president and GM of Adobe's
>> interactive development team, adding that this now made HTML5 superior in
>> terms of creating and deploying content in the browser across mobile
>> platforms. 
>>> 
>>> "We are excited about this, and will continue our work with key players in
>> the HTML community, including Google, Apple, Microsoft and RIM, to drive
>> HTML5 innovation they can use to advance their mobile browsers," he added.
>>> 
>>> Winokur said Adobe would now urge developers to continue packaging native
>> apps with Adobe AIR instead.  
>>> 
>>> "The announcement to no longer develop Flash Players for mobile devices is
>> an admission by Adobe not so much about the superiority of HTML5, but more
>> about HTML5 momentum and the incredible amount of resources it takes Adobe
>> to maintain the Flash player for so many different chips sets and mobile
>> OSes that change generations two to three times per year," said analyst Jack
>> Gold of Gold Associates.
>>> 
>>> Indeed, in the mobile space where OS versions and chips change so quickly,
>> Gold says Flash for mobile has been a "resource nightmare" for Adobe. "We
>> could have seen this coming," he added.
>>> 
>>> The war of words over whether Flash was right for mobile has been raging
>> for years now, with Steve Jobs and the Apple Inc. camp firmly opposed to
>> Adobe's offerings on the basis of their inherent instability and battery
>> drainage. So adamant was Jobs, in fact, that he famously wrote a 1500 word
>> missive about what he saw as the platform's failings, subsequently banning
>> it from iOS altogether.  
>>> 
>>> Some see today's announcement by Adobe as surrender and an acknowledgment
>> of defeat, whilst others see the move as a simple repackaging and rebranding
>> exercise, as long as Adobe Air (Adobe Integrated Runtime) lives on. 
>>> 
>>> AIR-a cross-platform runtime environment for building rich internet
>> applications using Adobe Flash, Adobe Flex, HTML, and Ajax-can be run as
>> desktop applications or on mobile devices. The runtime supports installable
>> applications on Windows, Linux, Mac OS and some mobile operating systems
>> such as iOS and Android.
>>> 
>>> "AIR wraps Flash and runs outside the browser, so it's not subject to the
>> browser restrictions," technology pundit and software expert Simon Bisson
>> told EE Times adding that a lot of Flash's problems had been down to the
>> browser sandbox. Bisson claimed Android Flash, for example, was let down by
>> its lack of touch capabilities for the browser - two point only.
>>> 
>>> AIR, however, is multi touch and allows much more hardware access from
>> outside the browser, making it easier to manage resources like battery too.
>> A good example of AIR in action is the BlackBerry PlayBook UI, which is all
>> AIR. 
>>> 
>>> Adobe's mobile future up in the AIR
>>> 
>>> AIR has already seen a fair measure of success, with apps based on the
>> platform available not only on iOS, but also at the top of the Android
>> market. "It's not as obvious as Flash, as it looks like just another app,
>> and Adobe has now launched the app-bundled runtime for Android, which is
>> even less visible," said Bisson.
>>> 
>>> AIR's low level hardware integration also means better GPU support and
>> Flash's 3D libraries are much more advanced than WebGLs, meaning it might be
>> the logical choice to do 3D in AIR, especially with support from frameworks
>> like Marmalade and Unity.
>>> 
>>> "A lot of what Flash does HTML can't yet do," he added, calling Flash more
>> of a test pilot trying things out that would later end up getting integrated
>> into HTML, like DRM for video for example, something HTML5 is still unable
>> to do. Thus, for applications like Netflix, for instance, AIR would still
>> very much be a go-to market.
>>> 
>>> "It's never really been a matter of competing between the two (HTML5 and
>> Flash), though some people do put it in those terms," Bisson admitted.
>>> 
>>> "Apple may be gloating, but it's not so much that HTML5 is better, as it
>> is that Adobe just isn't capable of providing the amount of resource that an
>> open-sourced, standards-based approach can offer," added Gold, saying the
>> rivalry was more akin to the more popular VHS winning over technically
>> superior Beta all over again.
>>> 
>>> "This will accelerate the deployment of HTML5 content, not just for
>> mobile, but also for PC/Mac platforms," Gold posited.
>>> 
>>> Bisson, meanwhile, said he believed this might only hold true for
>> in-browser use. "Outside the browser, it's more complex," he said, saying
>> most developers were using HTML5 for web anyway and that Flash for
>> advertising had never really made it to mobile. Indeed, Adobe recently
>> announced the acquisition of Natobi, creator of PhoneGap, giving the firm
>> the opportunity to provide tools to developers to quickly create HTML5
>> content for phone ads that's supported by virtually every mobile browser. 
>>> 
>>> "I just don't buy it as surrender," said Bisson adding, "change of
>> strategy? Yes. And, an unwillingness to dumb down the capabilities of the
>> platform for mobile browsers, which still lag behind the desktop
>> considerably."
>>> 
>>> Even on the desktop, however, some see a trend of developers moving away
>> from developing rich content in Flash in favor of Javascript, CSS, and
>> HTML5, which has native support for video.
>>> 
>>> On the other hand, Adobe has released tools that will allow mobile
>> developers to write a program on a single platform and deploy it across
>> several major mobile platforms, including Android, iOS, WindowsPhone and the
>> BlackBerry OS.
>>> 
>>> "AIR becomes direct competition for native frameworks that way," explained
>> Bisson, adding that the simplicity of writing something once in AIR and
>> being able to deploy it across several operating systems was a major
>> strength. Others have argued, however, that the method does engender a
>> certain lack of app performance, though how significant this performance
>> loss is remains to be properly documented.
>>> 
>>> To most, however, the major concern with Adobe's announcement will be that
>> all the Flash content on the web will now no longer be guaranteed to run on
>> future mobile devices and may now cause a split for web developers having to
>> code sites separately for mobile and PC.
>>> 
>>> "We don't believe Adobe will be able to offer a simple 'switch' in its
>> tools to optimally create/support both with one development environment -
>> others have tried this approach and it's not worked out that well," said
>> Gold.
>>> 
>>> Meanwhile, Winokur promised Adobe would "of course continue to provide
>> critical bug fixes and security updates for existing device configurations.
>> We will also allow our source code licensees to continue working on and
>> release their own implementations."
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>> 
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