A little over five years ago Steve Jobs wrote his infamous “Thoughts on Flash” letter citing the high level of energy consumption, lack of performance on mobile and poor security as the reasons his company’s products would not support Adobe Flash technology.
As of today, it appears we’re getting closer to the curtain closing on Flash.
Not too long ago, Flash was crucial to a high percentage of the Internet’s vast array of video content. Today, that number is lower. Don’t get it twisted though, there are still many Flash-powered multimedia items on the web, including graphics, videos, games and animations, like GIFs, a preferred method of expression for millennials and adults alike.
Tech heads in the business must have been watching HTML5 impede on Flash for a while, and it’s now taking center stage, establishing itself as a predominant creative format, further confirmed by the recent moves by Google and Mozilla that are only helping to accelerate that transition.
READ: Vulnerability that lets hackers control your PC found in Flash Player, how to stay safe
In its time, Flash has become famous for a few less-than flattering features that can all play a role in limiting user experience, including intrusive experiences, increased page-load times, lowering a site’s search engine optimization (SEO) and security flaws.
It’s important to note that Flash was developed in a time where the desktop was king and there was no mobile malarkey to deal with.
Grievances or not, the digital-video advertising industry has been compelled to use Flash because of VPAID (Video Player-Ad Interface Definition), a standard that allows a video ad and a video player to communicate.
The VPAID platform provides a mean of dynamically swapping or customizing video-ad creatives based on ad decisions, and has been used for Flash-based video ads on desktops for a very long time.
Also, the fact that Flash needs to be installed (unlike HTML5, which requires no installation), it’s easy to see why in the long term, its downfall was only a matter of time.