Apple are now shipping the new, netbook-sized, replacement for the Mac Air and ignoring the hyperbole around “version updates” and “consumer choice” it seems that the Mac Air will ship without Adobe’s Flash system. For years most manufacturers have shipped Flash as standard on PCs and Laptops, albeit usually an out of date version.
So does this mark another salvo against Flash? Probably so and with Apple’s influence on the rise and the number of computers sold climbing ever higher they have chosen the timing of this rather neatly. Ignoring lots of old arguments for ditching flash there does seem to be a method in the madness here. Losing Flash forever *will* release web developers to embrace HTML5 and other, far better structured, technologies and should also allow for cheaper, skinnier, devices to be used on t’internet.
It is fair to say that if Apple are prepared to unbundle Flash on the new MacAir then it is likely that new releases of the Mac will also be sans-Flash. Personally, I think it’s a good thing…I’ve been an avid Flash-hater for over 10 years so I’m looking forward to it being marginalised. Besides, why should it be installed as standard on any PC, if you want to use Flash you can download it yourself. How hard is that; or more to the point, maybe Adobe will stop being so bolshie about “adoption rates”. FFS, it is not hard to have 99% market penetration when your product ships pre-installed on every computer in the world – what would be the adoption rate if users had to download and install it? 25%, 10%.
Of course, not having Flash means that you don’t get to see the annoying advert with Kevin Spacey. Sold. Bye bye Flash 🙂
