Flash on the iPhone

It is amazing to me how many people complain that the iPhone doesn't (yet) support Flash. What major mobile phone does?! I find this interesting because it reveals that people really see the iPhone's web browser as a real "full featured" web browser. Gone are the days of the "mini mobile web". People want to see the same web on their mobile as they do on their desktop. How did this happen?

I propose this happened when Apple rewrote people's expectation of what a mobile device could be. I don't remember hearing people complain about the lack of flash on the Blackberry before the iPhone came out. It is hard to ignore how much the rules have changed in the mobile marketplace since the debut of the iPhone.

Personally, I don't miss Flash on the iPhone. I use the FlashBlock plugin in FireFox on my desktop and laptop computers because most uses of Flash on the web are pointless and annoying. FlashBlock replaces Flash presentations with a little button that allows me to click it if I really want to see that presentation. I rarely end up clicking it. This is particularly useful when trying to read stories on websites overwhelmed with blinking Flash ads. FlashBlock is roughly akin to pressing the escape key in a browser to halt GIF animations back in the day.

So I guess I only want Flash on the iPhone if I can turn it off. That probably won't happen so I say forget Flash. OK, its a minority opinion but then again I suppose I'm not the most mainstream guy in the world.

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Comments (1)

WTE from Madison, AL, USA

I agree that the iPhone has "rewrote people's expectation of what a mobile device could be".
Apple creates a very high standard for themselves by doing some things very well. This causes some consumers to expect miracles from them sometimes.

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