Mehmet Alpsoy

I have been in Flash world since 2000. It was Flash 4 at that time. People (including me) were making some animations and that kind of things while meeting Actionscript, and it seemed pretty cool comparing to that freaky animated gifs. Actionscript was also making things easier. I will not be messing your brain up with a Flash history. But…

Look at the point where Flash has come, and the web technologies as well. Flash is the technology that brought the web where it is today. Many successful web stories depend on Flash Platform. Many awarded web sites works on Flash. And some people hating it. Many others who just browse the web, do not care about what technology is used to build their favorite web sites or games. Lets come to the main point.

There are lots of people hating Flash out there. This post is dedicated to them.

First of all, Flash is a Platform. It’s not just a web plugin anymore. It is not being improved and existing for just internet games, or web sites and other things that all Flash haters think it is. Flash Platform is beyond that. I will not be listing the Flash Platform features and all the things you could manage to build with Flash and integrated services. Flash haters should google the Flash Platform features, because they have to know about the enemy to beat it

During my career, I’ve met many web developers who hated Flash more than Hitler. I have never needed to defense Flash Platform as their passion of opposition against Flash does not concerns me.

I have just asked questions to learn why did they hate Flash that much. And here are what I have learned from their responses.

Many Flash haters find it too cute, all that animations, effects, sounds, media etc etc. They do not want to involve in creativity, they just want to write code lines. But they have to realize that it is not just an animation tool since Flash 4. Besides they have to remember that animated DHTML menus and window expanding or vibrating Javascript methods that they used to use. And they have to admit that Flash made this kind of visuals to happen in a regular and stable way.

Some of them gives a try to Actionscript but never manage to compile a working SWF file, then find Actionscript ridiculous and think it is not a real programming language. But this kind of people does not even know Actionscript is based on ECMA Script which is a real standard.

Some of them hates Flash because they become less valuable programmers since the brilliant history of Flash starts, many companies look out for Flash Developers and give many opportunities to Flash Developers and promote them to higher positions in a short while than other web developers.

Flash Platform evaluates quicker than any other web technology, it has cross platform support and features of Flash do not need to be standardized like CSS and etc. like including browser manufacturers. It just works.

Flash haters hate Flash but claimed that Silverlight to be the next standard and it was a brilliant technology, loved that before it was released, but the result became a real disappointment. Also they forgot that Silverlight was just a plugin which Microsoft released with a hope that it replaces Flash.

Flash haters hate Flash because they do not have detailed information about Flash. They do not know its capabilities. They assume Flash is a toy that people will get bored of it sometime.

This hate list may become longer than Harry Potter series. So it is better to cut it here.

Flash will be around as long as HTML, Javascript, Java, XML and others exist. Nothing will change this, there will not be any other technology that will kill and replace Flash. Adobe will be improving Flash and will never let Flash to be exhausted after making these much investment.

But these Flash haters miss a really big point. They now support HTML5 because they hope that they will be building web applications that they are not capable of without Flash. This means they are willing a technology that will be replacing Flash because it will do what Flash does now. So these people will be building up things which they have been hating for many years. They are eager to make it. They are living to see it happen. So I ask them, why do you hate Flash that much while you are that much willing to build up the same thing? What makes the difference?

There is another similar hate story. Also many Flash haters also hate Apple and Macs. And the reason is the same. There is no reason. They just hate it. Many of them have never used a Mac. But they hate it. Many of them suffer from Windows, but they still love it. People may hate things which they have never experienced. And it is really about being so much narrow minded.

As a Flash Platform Developer, I don’t like the lack of Flash support on iPhone and iPad. But I think Flash CS5 should not include iPhone Application Development support because of some reasons that I have mentioned in a previous post. But I still love Apple and it’s products, I love my Mac, my iPod Touch, Airport etc. and will never stop using them and will never switch to another operating system like life shortening Windows.

Also I will not be blogging about lack of Flash on iPad. It is Apple’s choice. But I don’t think it is the best idea to claim iPad has the best web browsing experience while it has no Flash support as Flash is one of the biggest web standard on web. But this does not make me hate iPad.

Politics of Apple to keep the Appstore’s revenue in its own hands seems reasonable to me. So it is better to wait for a agreement between Apple and Adobe. There will be a point that two companies will meet. So lack of Flash on iPhone and iPad does not make me hate Apple too.

One last word for all those Flash haters. You are being funny while you are being against Flash. Just do your work, work it really well, put something on the table with the web technology you use and people will admire you too. There are many people building cool web applications without Flash and many of them do not waste their time to defame another technology. If some web technology brings your application to the point which you will it to be, than it is the best technology for you to use. Whether it is Flash or not.

Finally, I admit that I have wasted some time for this post. I have not aimed to support Flash or defame another web technology. But after reading a post that swears Flash and tries to explode a well known Flash evangelists blog post, I thought that time has come for a topic like this.

Next : To All Flash Lovers