Our next meeting is on Tuesday, July 13th.  

Not so long ago, in a galaxy not so far away...

January 27, 2010 could probably be marked as the start of the Code Wars between HTML 5 and Adobe's Flash.

That day, Apple introduced its tablet computer, the iPad. Probably as critical as the espousing of the iPad's features that day, was what the iPad didn't include: Adobe Flash.

Adobe Flash is a proprietary multimedia platform used to add animation, video, and interactivity to Web pages. With nearly 99% of all web browsers supporting it, it is ubiquitous and mission critical for many sites. CNN, YouTube, and Hulu, simply can't run without it.

Apple's exclusion of Flash from the iPad (as well as it's tour-de-force iPhone) has set off a firestorm of criticism. How can devices marketed to be ultimate web media consumption devices be designed to exclude a significant portion of the Web?

According to Apple, and Steve Jobs in particular, the answer is simple: Flash is poor for mobile platforms. It drains the battery of mobile devices, it’s not very good for multi-touch operation, and its performance, reliability and security are all shoddy.

A much better substitute, according to Apple, is HTML5, the next iteration of HTML, the predominant markup language for web pages. The new HTML5 standard incorporates features like video playback and drag-and-drop that have been previously dependent on third-party browser plugins like Flash. In other words, with HTML5, developers can do things that they couldn't have done without Flash.

Adobe has fired back. While it hasn't tried to refute the merits of HTML5, Adobe claims that Flash is stable, works great on devices. They have even claimed that the real reason Apple isn't supporting flash is that it is an affront to it's App Store. Flash could elegantly simulate the refined experiences that users get when they purchase a suitable app. “Apple has eliminated any way to get content on the device that they don't own,” says says Adrian Ludwig, an Adobe group product manager for Flash. “Apple is keeping the device closed to protect their revenue streams.”

All that being said, Apple's current position as the prognosticator of the computer business has raised the eyes of the technorati asking the question whether Flash's days are numbered. Not to mention, the massive growth in Apple's mobile devices has forced many flash-only sites to also support HTML5 (e.g. YouTube)

Welcome to the Code Wars, where the battle is just beginning.

At our next RMIUG meeting we will have a knock-down-drag-out battle between our own Flash and HTML 5 evangelists:

Joe Mease (joe@joemease.com) is a Denver native with over 12 years of professional design and development experience. As a developer, with a background in design and illustration, Joe has a unique ability to bridge the gap between design and development. Over the past decade, Joe has focused his efforts on creating consumer driven experiences for clients such as The Denver Broncos, Chipotle, Target, Audi USA, and Victoria's Secret. Joe's development platform of choice is Adobe Flash and Actionscript.

Sam Breed (sam@quickleft.com) is lead front end engineer and a founding partner at Quick Left, a standards based web engineering shop in Boulder, CO. He's been working as a web developer since 2007 and is passionate about building websites with the best tools available. He is focused primarily on Javascript, HTML and CSS, but wields a sharp sword with Ruby and PHP5. When he's not building the internet, he's skateboarding.

Links:

Joe Mease's Denver Egoist Article whether Flash is No Longer necessary: http://www.thedenveregotist.com/editorial/2010/may/10/flash-no-longer-necessary

QuickLeft: http://www.quickleft.com

Thoughts on Flash by Steve Jobs: http://www.apple.com/hotnews/thoughts-on-flash/

The meeting is Tuesday, July 13th from 7:00 - 9:00 pm (with optional 6:30 pm start for refreshments and informal networking). The meeting will be held at The National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) at 1850 Table Mesa Drive in Boulder. To get to NCAR from the Boulder Turnpike (US 36) or Broadway (US 93), take Table Mesa Drive west towards the mountains for approximately 2.5 miles into the foothills. NCAR is at the top of the hill. For door-to-door driving directions, go to MapQuest (http://www.mapquest.com/), click on Driving Directions, enter your starting address, NCAR's address, and voila! Park in the NCAR lot, go in the main door, and ask the guard to point you to meeting, which is held in the main auditorium, right off the lobby. The meeting is free and open to the public, but we may pass the hat to help defray expenses.

Our meeting location seats about 120 people. That is usually enough room to accommodate all attendees, but it's impossible for us to predict how many people will show up for any given meeting. Seating is always on a first-come, first serve basis, and in the event of more attendees than seats, we won't be able to admit additional people into the auditorium after all seats are filled.

Thanks to our three sponsors who help make RMIUG meetings happen:

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Applied Trust Engineering (http://www.appliedtrust.com/) -- an IT security and network/systems infrastructure consulting services company sponsors the refreshments.

ONEWARE (http://www.oneware.com) -- a Colorado-based software company that provides semi-custom web-based applications, sponsors the RMIUG meeting minutes.

Copy Diva (http://www.copydiva.com) which provides marketing project management, marketing communications consulting, and web content development is the AV sponsor for RMIUG.

Consultants and companies are invited to bring Internet-related Product information, brochures, and business cards which will be displayed on an information table.

There are email mailing lists set up for this group. To subscribe or unsubscribe, see http://www.rmiug.org/maillist.html. You can also reach the RMIUG "Executive" Committee at rmiug-comm@rmiug.org. Our web site is at http://www.rmiug.org/

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Please note that RMIUG is hosted at NCAR and we are their guests. NCAR has security regulations in effect that we must follow in order to use the facility. If any RMIUG attendee is unwilling to follow these simple regulations, I would ask that he or she not attend and instead read the minutes after the meeting.

Here are the NCAR security policies that must be followed:

1. No weapons.

2. Must sign in at front desk and provide name.

3. Cooperate with security folks including providing ID if requested.

4. We are guests of NCAR so cooperation and courtesy are expected when dealing with NCAR staff.

If there are any questions or concerns with this policy, please contact me directly.

Thanks, Josh Zapin (josh@rmiug.org).

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