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I am the co-host of a weekly podcast called The Bella Buzz with the CEO of Bella Web Design, Desiree Scales. We have good conversations about topics related to online marketing. Thought I would also post the programs here for the Overflow audience. This is episode 50.
The Bella Buzz podcast devotes an entire episode to the vast change that is taking place in the web development world regarding the use of Flash. As anyone with an iPhone or the new iPad from Apple knows, Flash applications are not supported on these devices. Since these types of devices are becoming the norm for our mobile computing, we thought we should address the subject with an eye towards the future.
The topic has really come to the forefront as Steve Jobs was questioned about the lack of Flash support on the iPad, and he has written a post title Thoughts on Flash that is prominently featured on the Apple.com web site.
We are heading into an environment where we have moved away from the desktop as the sole form of computing, with a keyboard and a mouse as the way to navigate, to a more mobile device that requires touch and tap capability to access the information we desire. It is this lack of functionality that removes Flash as a way to distribute rich media content.
The uses of Flash really flourished as bandwidth allowed for quick rendering of larger file formats in the browser. It provided designers with a great way to include animation and rich graphics on their web sites, as well as a way ultimately to wrap multi-media elements such as video and podcasts. It has also flourished in the online gaming environment.
As sites are redesigned in the near future, migration away from Flash should be a priority conversation with consideration given to jQuery, HTML5 standards or Quicktime.
Desiree is starting to investigate some solutions for sites with major graphical elements including one for a photographer at A Day in the Life Photography, which will be going towards a jQuery solution for his portfolio. Desiree is suggesting that site owners make this change sooner than later so that they can be assured all devices will properly display the site and not some missing plugin icon.
NOTE: The Bella Buzz podcast will be taking a hiatus as Desiree does some international traveling. We will look for some great insight into overseas technology as well as some uploaded photography upon her return. The next podcast recording is scheduled for June 14th.
Theme music for The Bella Buzz is Fallen by Digital Chemistry, available for download at the Podsafe Music Network.
