September 26, 2011
I remember 1997 when I surfed the Gabocorp and 2Advanced sites for the first time. I had never seen anything like them. These sites were totally different from any other site I had ever seen on the Web.
Gabocorp's download process was so damn amazing that simply watching each section download was pretty enthralling. The 2Advanced site was no less impressive with its beautiful interface and animation interwoven with cool music and sound effects that, combined, turned the website into something truly fantastic.
These two sites were what sparked my interest in web development and that of flash sites, in particular. I was determined to become a truly cool flash developer!
Today, developing a flash site is out. Creating a flash site isn't just uncool; it is totally wrong and out of style. How did this happen?
In the beginning, Flash was more or less an alternative to GIF animation that grew to include compressed sound effects and interactive buttons that in turn made it possible to develop entire flash sites. Between 1997 and 2003, Flash held a monopoly on the technology for creating beautiful, cool and fashionable sites; no one else came close.
Soon, Internet users began demanding better and more practical information as well as questioning the usefulness of Flash sites.
At that point, the Flash Video (FLV) format was introduced and changed the Internet entirely.
Now, you could watch films without having to execute complicated installations on your computer. Sound and picture compression, and quality were excellent. Some people even went so far as to say that without Flash Video, YouTube would never have been a success. Flash's greatness was back!
In 2006, when Flash upgraded their program language from ActionScript 2.0 to ActionScript 3.0, betting and gaming companies began showing real interest as ActionScript 3.0 was not only powerful enough to be used by casino, betting and roulette sites, but even bigger fish, such as EA became interested and started using the Flash platform.
However, ActionScript was missing programmers as all Flash developers were graphic artists or animators/producers and not programmers.
Many Flash developers were forced to become programmers, but there weren't many that could or wanted to go through the education, which is why a so-called generation switch occurred.
The Flash tool went from creating "cool dudes" with a feeling for color and form (and even sound) to a whole new generation of "intellectual nerds" that worked with Flash. The older "cool dudes" weren't "it" anymore, but instead wound up being assigned to develop flash banners…if they were lucky. An ordinary programmer isn't as loyal to a language or tool as a graphic designer or producer is to their programming tools (e.g. Photoshop, 3D Studio Max). This was a major reason that Flash lost their loyal developers.
When the old "cool" developers left the agencies, only Flash programmers remained.
Of course, Flash was huge because of all of the Flash programmers who worked for the major betting and gaming companies, but if betting and gaming companies started choosing another tool, Flash would die. Flash had dug its own grave!
That day came in 2008, when iPhone released their new cell phone – a phone that specialized in providing Internet information. A cell phone, in other words, that was simple and easy to surf with except on Flash sites! Apple refused to allow any Flash technology usage whatsoever. In all actuality, it shouldn't have worked considering all of the websites that were using Flash technology at the time, especially YouTube.
Apple got around this by using so-called apps. YouTube presented its services via its own application that they could control much more effectively on their site than by an iPhone. A few years later, Apple released the iPad that targeted even greater Internet usage while still remaining Flash technology-free.
Companies no longer wanted anything at all to do with Flash technology on their sites, as they couldn't be seen or used from an iPhone or iPad. This included the betting and gaming companies. Betting and gaming companies began looking for new technology that would allow them to use Apple products and reach Apple's many users. The solution was jQuery and HTML5. Much of the interaction that Flash was able to handle could also be handled by jQuery and HTML5. It didn't take much for a Flash programmer who could use ActionScript 3.0 to learn jQuery and HTML5. Thus, betting and gaming sites and other companies were able to switch from Flash technology at minimal cost.
Today, Flash is used less and less. I know that many companies are planning and rebuilding their sites that have been using Flash. Now, Flash is basically only used for banner ads and, of course let's not forget YouTube. What will happen to Flash in the future remains to be seen. I, for one, believe that its usage and technology will slowly but surely die out.
I would like to add that we at Interactive Solutions received awards for being the best at using Flash technology. We used to recommend Flash as the right technology for developing interactive and cool sites…not anymore. We can develop these sites without using Flash. Instead, we utilize newer and smarter technology such as HTML5.
I do, however, miss the mind blowing experiences of cool Flash sites such as Gabocorp and 2Advanced used 15 years ago (-: