3 ms·

I'm a developer that spends 90% of my time in the web world and can say without doubt that the world will be better off without Flash in it today. But I was al

by untog 6y ago

I'm a developer that spends 90% of my time in the web world and can say without doubt that the world will be better off without Flash in it today. But I was also a teenage developer fooling around with code back in the late 90s and Flash was just mindblowing back then, from both the perspective of a developer (the UI for creating interactive animated content is still without rival, IMO) and as a consumer: vector animated 'videos' that used a fraction of the bandwidth of real videos. Weebl was/is a genius, and folks like him created an entirely new aesthetic with Flash that entered the mainstream... I think his videos aired on MTV at one point?! It was fascinating to watch. Even separately from that, Flash was the first to bring things like streaming live video and webcam access to browsers. I'll always be nostalgic for that era of the internet, and Flash is what allowed it to happen. We're all better off with open standards and multiple browser implementations, but I wish it was still just as easy to be so creative.

rightbyte 6y ago
I think Flash and Java Applet was quite nice and have left a void. It is a nice concept to separate code from markup in such away that those widgets did. Also they were quite easy to get something going with as a newbie programmer. What we have today is a joke regarding programmer usability.
- no_wizard 6y ago
  They never did solve the security issues around either one though, not to mention performance issues. I remember flash in particular had a lot of nasty security vulnerabilities, and I remember Java applets that we’re memory hogs. I use to play online chess through a Java applet via FICS, and it never did perform well at all
  - tambourine_man 6y ago
    Or integration. You had to jump through a lot of hoops to access the DOM. The embed/object was a black box, the browser had no idea what happened inside and vice-versa.
  - tyingq 6y ago
    On the other hand, browsers relaxed some security around things like the clipboard, partially because people were using Flash to go around them.
soulofmischief 6y ago
Weebl and Bob was such an incredibly pervasive series at the time. Weebls-stuff was a goldmine of intelligent and funny videos and games, and had a great community. Sites like Newgrounds, Albino Blacksheep, etc. were the cornerstone of my youth and I would simply not be who I am today without them. And it's been amazing watching so many of these creators go on to have successful careers in animation, writing, production and more.

by untog 6y ago

rightbyte 6y ago

I think Flash and Java Applet was quite nice and have left a void. It is a nice concept to separate code from markup in such away that those widgets did. Also they were quite easy to get something going with as a newbie programmer. What we have today is a joke regarding programmer usability.

no_wizard 6y ago
They never did solve the security issues around either one though, not to mention performance issues. I remember flash in particular had a lot of nasty security vulnerabilities, and I remember Java applets that we’re memory hogs. I use to play online chess through a Java applet via FICS, and it never did perform well at all
- tambourine_man 6y ago
  Or integration. You had to jump through a lot of hoops to access the DOM. The embed/object was a black box, the browser had no idea what happened inside and vice-versa.
- tyingq 6y ago
  On the other hand, browsers relaxed some security around things like the clipboard, partially because people were using Flash to go around them.

soulofmischief 6y ago

Weebl and Bob was such an incredibly pervasive series at the time. Weebls-stuff was a goldmine of intelligent and funny videos and games, and had a great community. Sites like Newgrounds, Albino Blacksheep, etc. were the cornerstone of my youth and I would simply not be who I am today without them. And it's been amazing watching so many of these creators go on to have successful careers in animation, writing, production and more.