That "devil's advocate" blog post was written over a year ago; the focal point of the post was the 'click to activate' issue, which is now moot -- Microsoft settled the EOLAS lawsuit a long time ago and removed the click to activate mechanism last year.
SWFObject 2.x isn't just about avoiding the click to activate annoyance; it's about supporting standards (<embed> is not a recognized standard) and promoting accessibility through the judicious use of fallback HTML content. If anyone was using SWFObject simply to get around the click to activate mechanism, they were missing the point. Adobe understands SWFObject is far from useless, and has been in active communication with the SWFObject team about incorporating SWFObject in Adobe products. This means that more than likely at some point most (all?) of Adobe's SWF-producing products will use SWFObject in some form. Adobe has already included SWFObject in a number of products, including some of the Creative Suite products and Adobe Captivate 4. Regarding level of support, I respectfully disagree. The SWFObject team is very thorough, though I admit as volunteers we may not be the fastest bunch. We're actively working to improve our documentation, and this Google Group has some great people answering questions every single day. In fact, this Google Group more often than not *already has the answers* if people take the time to search before posting. A number of us have websites that provide working examples and instructions for numerous scenarios (see http://code.google.com/p/swfobject/wiki/links). We even have a free generator<http://www.bobbyvandersluis.com/swfobject/generator/index.html>that will *write your code for you*. You just need to fill out the form then copy and paste the code. What more could you want? :) - philip On Tue, Jun 2, 2009 at 9:54 AM, Getify Solutions, Inc. <[email protected]>wrote: > > FWIW, with CS4 and onward, Adobe has dropped their old AC_xxx methods and > adopted SWFObject. In Dreamweaver CS4 SWFObject markup is available as a > plugin. My guess is, beyond CS4, it'll be automatically included. > > Regardless of what that article states, SWFObject has not been obviated. > The gap may have been narrowed temporarily, but there's a reason that Adobe > has now decided SWFObject is the way to go -- because they realize the > benefits the library gives. In fact, as flash capability expands and flash > content thus propogates more widely, it's more important than ever. And as > we continue to enrich the API and functionality with each new release, > that'll only continue to rise. > > You can drive a beat up car and it'll get you around just fine. But for > little or no extra cost, why wouldn't you just drive the Cadillac? :) > > Now, if your complaint is really that SWFObject is harder to understand/use > than AC_xxx or Dreamweaver inserted code, that's valuable feedback we can > use, and moreover, there's probably help available here to you to bridge > that gap. > > --Kyle > > > > > -------------------------------------------------- > From: "ccrider" <[email protected]> > Sent: Tuesday, June 02, 2009 11:36 AM > To: "SWFObject" <[email protected]> > Subject: Has Dreamweaver CS3 made SWFObject pointless? > > > > > I have Dreamweaver CS3 and I never use it because I just don't see a > > big improvement on my machine. > > > > However, today I launched it and tried to add Flash the easy way > > instead of the SWFObject way. I noticed that the embed code was > > completely different now ... and it works! > > > > Then, I found this article: > > > http://www.pat-burt.com/swfobject/devils-advocate-why-you-shouldnt-use-swfobject/ > > ... which basically says SWFObject is useless now that Adobe has > > solved the problems for us starting with CS3. > > > > Do you guys have Dreamweaver CS3? If so, why do you prefer to use > > SWFObject? I hate hand-coding the SWFObject every time and am darn > > happy to learn that CS3 takes care of this for me (again, like the > > good ol' days). > > > > Thanks, > > CC > > > > > > > > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "SWFObject" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/swfobject?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
