Creative Flash Websites – April 2010

Nice collection, I especially liked the exercise website, very slick.

I’ve also included the Bell website in one of my posts, but the Newcastle Brown Ale I didn’t see until now. It’s brilliant!
.-= Alice´s last blog ..Introducing: The Flash Video Players Package =-.

excellent compilation
.-= wparena´s last blog ..Top 30+ blogs for web designers and developers =-.

Thanks for awesome collection. I especially like Bell Better Service website – sleek business design.
.-= Flash Moto CMS´s last blog ..30 Fresh and Exceptional Flash Portfolio Websites =-.

How much I hate Flash, this is quite an awesome collection, thanks for sharing it.

[...] Creative Flash Websites – April 2010 [...]

While I may not be a huge fan of Flash per se, the problem is that today it’s Flash, tomorrow it’s something else.

Apple’s approach is deceptively beautiful, but it’s rotting some of the fundamental reasons why I became a software engineer.

I want to live in a world free to explore possibilities, not a world where I am told in advance what I can and can’t do. Ask a small boy what he prefers, a rose garden or a forest – and he will choose the latter.

I probably thought like you thought about Apple’s approach to ban Flash, but there’s more than you can see at first sight about this. There are other interests from Apple.

In a nutshell:
1. H.264 is not open source, but a patented codec (for apple and others). If they push this standard as HTML5 video, they will be earning more money. But they need to confront Flash first (as Flash holds 75% of the Internet video).
2. As your examples demonstrate, Flash goes far beyond than just a video player. But if you don’t allow Flash to create apps for the iPhone then you have the supremacy of your own development environment. Yes, Cocoa is free, but it only runs on a Mac, so that’s a good way to sell more Macs.

If you want to see more connections behind Apple, Flash and H.264 I suggest you to take a look at the big picture. The conclusions are quite surprising:

http://trebleclick.blogspot.com/2010/05/apple-and-adobe-infographics.html

You are absolutely right Serrano, opening windows for Flash in Apple’s garden is prime concern for their App factory. However, there’s a blurring ground boundaries between HTML5 and Flash , I think the later will precede in delivering much dynamic websites in future. This will be collective controlled by designer community, adapting new mediums to deliver content over internet in future.
.-= Abhijeet´s last blog ..Bugplug – ecogadget =-.

Great collection of sites. Thnx for sharing *-*

Great list … very creative !
@E. Serrano … great comment …and link..I didn’t know why Apple is pushing so much for HTML 5. Let’s hope Adobe and Google don’t give up and continue to develop flash for both desktop and mobile devices (Android).
I’m flash game developer/gamer and the more devices that run flash … the better
.-= Flash Gamer´s last blog ..James Replay =-.

Thanks guys for your comments and feedback. Google is supporting Adobe and do you think Apple will beat Google ?

That’s it! Saying that Flash is just for video playback would be like saying that a moder computer is just for reading e-mails.

This movement from Apple is just going to split the market, but Google’s Android will eventually turn the tide.

Sidebar has link to “Best Collection of CSS Rounded Cornes”. XD I like cornes. Especially the creamy kind.

Lol, in a respond: Flash, we have grown apart http://aext.net/2010/05/flash-we-have-grown-apart/
.-= Lam Nguyen´s last blog ..Bulletproof of Mind Mapping: Overview, Benefits, Tips and Tools =-.

@Lam: lol, yes, I saw that article about Flash

I like Flash sites but not waiting for them to load.

[...] Creative Flash Websites – April 2010 [...]

an iPad on a Flash website… oh the irony…
.-= Codephase´s last blog ..codephase: #bad #stupid #webdesign stupid website of the day: SigmaTV Cyprus: http://www.sigmatv.com =-.

I look at this from a different point of view. I feel like Flash closes doors for people. A lot of people feel like choice is being taken away on the Apple products, but that’s Apple, they want a flawless experience and they obviously can’t do that with Flash. Other hand held apps are not working well with Flash either.

That said, by using Flash you are actually forcing your end user to have Flash (I’ve used Flash too). I think if Adobe really wanted to be open they would have opened Flash, but chances are it’s too much of a mess to do anything with anyway.

As for all the Flash developers that are worried, the web has and always will be about learning new technologies. Almost everything I learned 12 years ago is obsolete. Welcome to the web. HTML5 will be obsolete in 12 years too.

Ian, I think that Flash cannot be much more open than it is now. Flash player has some proprietary components (inlcluding “Apple’s” H.264), so they can open it completely.

On the other hand, you can fully code Flash apps using the fully open source Flex framework plus other open source IDEs.

It was already possible to code and compile Flash apps that worked in Apple devices (there are more than 100 Flash apps that use the Flash gesture API). But now that isn’t legal thanks to the latest license changes performed by Apple.

What does Apple win with all this? 1) You need a Mac and their IDEs to code iPhone and iPad apps 2) H.264 becomes a de facto standard and they earn royalties from their patent. 3) (nearly written this way by the very Steve Jobs on his “thoughts on Flash”) With no Flash support, iPhone and iPad users will buy enterntainment products from Apple App Store.

Anyway, I agree with you, Ian: all technologies quickly evolve, and we really need to keep learning as change in these tech sectors is continuous. So there shouldn’t be any special worry.

Thanks @Ian and @Serrano for your valuable feedback on this.

@Ian: I agree with you Ian that we should move on with new technologies and def. HTML5 is the future of internet. But my point is we can not totally ignore Flash. Still we will be using it some where in our life and no body knows what Adobe comes up with Flash in coming years. (Google is already supporting it and announced Flash for Android)

@Serrano: I totally agree with your points about what Apple won with all this.

@E.Serrano, I don’t H.264 belongs to Apple. Although their are royalties paid to some companies for it.

@Waheed

I also think that people over simply the ease of adding Flash to a hand held device like the iPad or iPhone. I have no idea what the effort is myself, but I don’t think its as black and white as everyone thinks. Yes some phones are doing it, but every implementation I’ve seen usually ends with the browser crashing or someone saying it won’t support such and such a site.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hqFTx8rLsg

I know most of my experiences with Flash on a regular computer are not great. A lot of times this is the developers fault, but I think it’s a lot easier to introduce bad usability with Flash then it is with HTML. Youtube is also anything but smooth in Firefox on Mac OS X, much better in Safari though.

I hope the open web is the future. No one should have to install a specific version of a plugin or be locked out of a site because that site chose to use non-standard technology like Active X or Flash. These technologies did a lot for the web and were necessary, but I think our open standards are finally catching up.

Another interesting read on the openness of Flash.

http://daringfireball.net/2010/05/flash_almost_as_open_as_office

Flash isn’t just about H264, video or animation. It creates a different experience on the site, and visual delights that can’t be done in HTML5 with JS. It’s just like when the TV,DVD and Bluray came out, people still go to the cinema – because the experience is different.
Each of the technology has its purpose, and so I think the problem is to use them wisely and appropriately.
I use Apple products to create Flash apps. It’s sad to see them bitching with each other.

[...] support of Flash, I started a monthly series last month where I will showcase Creative Flash Sites. Here is another great round of flash websites. Am sure the animation and effects used in these [...]

nice template buddy keep it know

Very good man amazing.