A detailed explanation of how HTML5 has put a lid on the sick cat Flash in the past 10 years

On August 9, Google officially announced that starting from Chrome 53 released in September this year, Google Chrome will block 90% of Flash content, and will use HTML5 as a web content standard by the end of the year. The message seems simple, but behind it is a 10-year tug-of-war.

Interception of the latest Google blog article (Flash and Chrome)

6 years ago, when we didn’t have a circle of friends to browse, the global technology blog & forum There was such a scolding war, and the protagonist was Steve Jobs, the No. 1 person in the world of quarrels. I remember back then, when Gang Leader Qiao blasted Flash, the overlord in the multimedia field, and touted HTML5, it was still not understood by most people...

Today, I see that HTML5 is merciless With the global "whale" share of Flash and domestic H5 marketing becoming more and more intense, we can finally say with confidence: "The leader is wise!"

1. "Either adapt to Apple or die."

Jobs at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference in 2010

At the iPad Apple conference in January 2010, an eagle-eyed reporter discovered that some sections of the webpage on the big screen did not support Flash, resulting in The content cannot be played. Adrian Ludwig, the product manager of Adobe Flash, was angry and immediately wrote an article saying:

Without Flash, the iPad will not be able to access 70% of the games and 75% of the film and television content on the Internet.

Three days later, Jobs gave an internal speech and responded:

(blame it all) Adobe is too lazy.

He accused Flash of having too many bugs, which often caused Mac to crash; now HTML5 is the general trend, and if Adobe does not adjust according to Apple's development direction, it can only let Flash wait to die.

As early as 2007, when Apple released the iPhone, the OS system did not support Flash, so Adobe had to launch Packager for iPhone in 2009 to package Flash games into iPhone applications.

But Jobs did not accept this idea and simply encouraged major websites to design audio and video versions of HTML5. In early April 2010, he changed the developer terms of the iPhone and announced that converting Flash into iPhone applications would not be approved. review.

Excerpt from the original text of Steve Jobs' "My Views on Flash"

The incident fermented for more than a week, and Jobs published the world-famous open letter "Flash" "Thoughts on Flash", there are six arguments:

(1) Adobe is too closed, and its products are 100% proprietary.

(2) Most Flash videos follow the H.264 format, which is supported by Apple; as for without Flash games, it is not enough to miss the wonderful gaming life in the APP Store.

(3) Once Flash is supported, the stability and security of Apple mobile devices will be greatly reduced.

(4) Flash consumes a lot of power.

(5) If you want to adapt Flash to touch design, you have to rewrite the code. It is better to use the more advanced HTML5.

(6) Last but not least, relying entirely on third-party software development will delay all of us from using new features of other products.

The reason why Jobs has such confidence is that since 2004, Apple has cooperated with Maxthon and other browser manufacturers to improve the existing HTML standard, and through three years of efforts, it prompted the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) to standardize it, that is, Later HTML5. The new standard redefines web development with the ability to build browser applications.

The gang leader is so tough, what should Adobe do?

2. Google, Facebook, Youtube... Later even Adobe disliked Falsh

The Tomb of Flash (Photo source: Tencent Technology)

Under the leadership of Apple, Google joined the HTML5 camp in 2010 (which means that Android can't stand Flash), and since then more and more companies have secretly "rebellion". HTML5 was finalized in October 2014, and the dominoes fell out of control——

• In January 2015, Youtube abandoned Flash and played HTML5 videos by default

• In July 2015, Firefox blocked the old version of Flash player

• In September 2015, Google Chrome blocked some Flash content

• In December 2015, Adobe merged Flash and HTML5 production software and changed its name to Animate CC

• In December 2015, Facebook switched the default for all site videos to HTML5

• In May 2016, Google Chrome announced that it would use HTML5 by default Replace Flash

• In August 2016, Google Chrome will fully block Flash

• In December 2016, Google Chrome will fully support HTML5

• In January 2017, the Google advertising platform will no longer allow the placement of Flash

It’s not the Apple bully’s fault, since the iPhone abandoned Flash in 2007, For more than 9 years, Adobe has been in sole control of Flash and has been "unrepentant". In order to correct various bugs, 316 Flash patches were released last year, almost all year round.

Who still remembers its glory at that time?

Flash is an interactive vector graphics and Web animation standard. Because of its small size, easy transmission, and non-distortion, it is suitable for the small-bandwidth Internet environment around 2000 and has rapidly emerged around the world.

In 2005, the company to which Flash belongs was acquired by Adobe for a sky-high price of US$3.4 billion, which made it famous. Since then, it has spanned the three major fields of Internet film and television, games, and advertising, with a market share as high as 97%.

However, at the end of last year, Adobe merged the Flash production software into the HTML5 production software Edge and transformed it into Animate CC because it could not stand the criticism.

Flash’s name change was belittled by foreign media (Photo source: thehackernews)

Not to mention that in recent years, foreign companies, large and small, that were originally firmly in the Flash camp have stopped testing the waters. , instead of impatiently embracing HTML5, major domestic Internet giants including Baidu, Tencent, and Alibaba are also quietly laying out their plans on HTML5, developing visualization tools, setting up WeChat application accounts, releasing game engines... everything.

3. HTML5 commercialization - what are the risks and benefits?

Intercepted news results of Baidu’s “H5 page creation tool”

When Steve Jobs and Adobe were at odds with each other, many technology bloggers were worried about the lack of production tools for HTML5 . After several years of technological accumulation at home and abroad, this is no longer a problem.

Today with Baidu’s “H5 page creation tool”, what you see is a hundred flowers blooming - just as the gang leader expected, you will no longer face a situation where one company is the only one.

No matter what happens in the market, they just want to make money.

Forrester Research analysts explain Adobe’s strategy this way. Unfortunately, it turns out that it is not even easy to make money (Kodak suddenly comes to mind here), for three reasons -

(1) Changes in market access rules

Representative products produced by HTML5 pages at home and abroad

The picture above is suitable for taking some time to savor.

In the past we only had Adobe Flash because the Flash standard was firmly in the hands of Adobe. But HTML5 is open, and many related APIs, JavaScript and even development engines are open source. The technical barriers to production tools have since been broken down, and the market has become open.

(2) Changes in the focus of marketing terminals

No one expected that the United States had been tinkering with HTML5 for 10 years. In 2014, because of "Surround the Nervous Cat", it was first China is on fire. With the help of WeChat, the mobile social marketing craze has set off in China. Since then, a variety of phenomenal H5s have emerged one after another.

Because we mainly focus on Web-based websites, the tool production efficiency and update iteration are much higher than those of foreign software such as Tumult Hype and Google Web Designer. Driven by the huge market demand for mobile advertising, the website functions are also close to Software Products.

(3) Changes in corporate profit model

Interception of Adobe official website purchase interface

I have used more than 10 types of Adobe software in my life, and I have never spent half a penny, but it still follows the old-fashioned tool sales model.

Look at Google’s dominance⋯⋯

Google web designer is free to download and use. (Google Web Designer is free to download, and free to use.)

In contrast, in China, there are several companies that are completely free for enterprise-level H5 production and functions. As far as I know, they are: Baidu H5 platform , iH5 and Sohu Express. Behind them, they represent a new profit model. Instead of selling functions and advertising, either the webpage is affiliated with Google Ads and other advertising channels to sell CPM, CPC, and CPA, or there is implicit implantation and payment for advertising.

Some people say that HTML5 is the successor of Flash, but I don’t think so. If Flash was the overlord of PC multimedia in the past, HTML5 is the originator of mobile multimedia and will be a rising star that subverts the PC side.

It’s just that the historical legacy of Flash is too complicated. The “blocking” mentioned by browsers such as Google today is not complete, but more of a decisive attitude. PC users can still load Flash manually, but the default loading is fully supported by HTML5.

Finally quoted 4 industry comments from technology media:

2010——“Apple can’t kill Flash, but HTML5 can.”

2012—— "You will find that it will be painful if your PC does not have Flash installed, but iOS users can live well without Flash."

2014—— "Back then, when Apple announced that it would never support Flash, there was a lot of criticism; however, today, when Android also abandoned Flash, people began to understand Apple's vision."

2016 Year - "Google's move (to completely ban Flash) is equivalent to driving the last nail into Flash's coffin."

The overall situation has been decided.

The above is a detailed explanation of how HTML5 has sealed the coffin of the sick cat Flash in the past 10 years. For more related content, please pay attention to the PHP Chinese website (www.php.cn)!