It's now been at least 4 years since Steve Jobs originally pronounced Flash as unfit for mobile devices. 4 years! And they still haven't got it right. And yet folks still condemn Jobs for these remarks. I'd say he was right on the money.
You're right. And what a complete joke Motorola is. But really, who on Earth did NOT see something like this coming? (I mean, besides the haters and losers who didn't want to see it. And still won't!)
If the 32gb version wi-fi only checks in at $600 to be comparable to the first-gen iPad, that means within the next few weeks the Motorola will be behind in terms of specs because the second version of the iPad will be more impressive. Probably the memory will be doubled which means you might be able to get a 32GB iPad 2 for $100 cheaper or get a wi-fi 3G iPad 2 for about the price of the Motorola Wi-Fi only model.
And as for the whole Flash issue, with Apple selling iOS devices by the millions, how long before any site worth visiting will offer a version that works with Apple's products.
Finally an Android user that is honestly reporting what flash is like on a 4" screen phone. I'd bet my savings that SJ and his team tested that 5 years ago and had no choice but to scrap Flash to preserve use experience. No compromises to deliver performance AND friendliness. Anyone talking about Apple's evil plots to lock Adobe out for various monopoly/$$ goals is delusional. If Flash was in fact better suited for portable devices than html5 they'd have adopted it in a flash (pun intended) I'd think.
Agree with your positive comments about the comments from "the Android" user.
It's been reported and I heard SJ say at an All Things Digital interveiw that Apple spent a a fair amount of effort and time working with Adobe's Flash team before the iPhone was announced to get flash working to Apple's standards on iOS and they couldn't get there. Only then was the decision made to jettison Flash in order to maintain usability and keep the iOS project moving forward.
How dare Motorolla release a product that doesn't meet the established web standards. Who do they think they are telling us the consumer what does and doesn't work well.
Then this is the PERFECT opportunity for someone to see how fast and smooth everything is, plus battery life *before* Flash is installed (and the 10.2 version) and then run this again afterwards.
Unfortunately, someone would have to buy one first.
Jobs was right again about Adobe Flash on low powered devices, just as he was right about the form factor of the tablets. Shouldn't we just accord him the respect he is due?
I'm sure that one thing Jobs and The President commiserated about at dinner last week was the fact that if either of them cured cancer, their haters would just accuse them of putting researchers out of work.
If Flash isn't enabled on other smart phones how are people experiencing Flash sites now? Since I don't own a smart phone I don't know.
The same way desktop users w/o Flash (or with an old version of Flash) experience them: they see the content the developer decides they should see in lieu of the SWF.
The funniest thing is reading all of the fandroid crap. It was "The iPad can't even run Flash.". Now, it's "It doesn't matter, I don't even have Flash installed.".
It's good marketing strategy, even though it serves to illustrate just how unimportant Flash really is. First impressions are most important, and battery life trumps Flash. Only after the iPad 2 has arrived will Motorola release Flash, to produce a second wave of buyers.
My guess is Motorola did this intentionally. Without Flash enabled they may get battery life close, or equal to, the iPad. This will allow Motorola to advertise said battery life once Flash is installed on the Xoom, regardless if it remains true or not. There will just be a small disclaimer in fine print saying that battery life is for the Xoom tablet without Flash. Of course, the print will be so small, no one will be able to see it.
The funniest thing is reading all of the fandroid crap. It was "The iPad can't even run Flash.". Now, it's "It doesn't matter, I don't even have Flash installed.".
Yeah, there something deliciously ironic about this. Nobody does more to validite Jobs' decisions than his detractors and competitors. First they tell us how wrong he is. Then, a year later, they copy him. Too bad for them that apple has moved on to something new by then. Hard to hit a movie target.
To me FLASH is not all that important. I would rather have longer battery life. Also Flash on the Ipad would only lead to more annoying adds. I'd rather see HTML5 make its way into new technology.
As an Android user I must say that having Flash should be a strike against any device.At a counter, if I were given the choice between HAVING Flash and NOT HAVING Flash, of course, I'd say I want one. I'm guessing that the average consumer would want that, too. I *thought* it would be a net positive on my device but more than a year later I'd say it's a painful experience.
Yes, Flash is great with mouse and keyboard but my fat fingers are useless for selecting anything in a Flash element on my device. I'm also so annoyed about having to let yet another thing load in the web page. There are some Flash objects that require detailed selection, dragging, scrolling. Useless on a 4" touchscreen. USELESS.
I have to agree this is similar to my experience with android and flash based website. Good forbid if you not on a 3G connect at the time which you hit one of these sites and have to select flash pull downs or something. It is not an easy task, so I do not access those sites if I can void it. I honestly did not think this was flash issue at the time, I mostly those those idiot develop thought is would be cute to do all these fancy things verse just making the site usable.
To me FLASH is not all that important. I would rather have longer battery life. Also Flash on the Ipad would only lead to more annoying adds. I'd rather see HTML5 make its way into new technology.
Flash was the ONLY reason the CPU would heat up on my laptops and spin up the fan to annoying noise levels when just sitting idle on a web page. The web page doesn't even have to have Flash content per se; the Flash banner ads would be hogging the CPU. Imagine that on a tablet. Well, I guess we don't have to imagine because Xoom is gonna show us this wonderful new world of suck.
Out of interest, how many times would you say not having Flash on the iPad has really inconvenienced you (and I mean, prevented you achieving what you wanted to achieve).
For me it is once. I couldn't compelte a purchase on art.com and I had to wait until I got to a PC, which given I was on the road in Hong Kong, was actually a problem for me.
The only other website I've even noticed the lack of Flash is the San Jose Sharks website, and I've just started going elsewhere for my Sharks news.
Then this is the PERFECT opportunity for someone to see how fast and smooth everything is, plus battery life *before* Flash is installed (and the 10.2 version) and then run this again afterwards.
If you prefer the features of the Xoom over the iPad, please do buy it, and share your share your results.
I like to disable Flash though in my computer, and I am enjoying mostly "ad-free sites"*** among those that I frequent, like the New York Times. I simply get the "f" space. And, if I am curious enough, I can always click the "f" space. One definite advantage, most sites that I visit now load faster and I encounter less overall slowing when I have a gazillion browsers and applications.
You do not have to trust my observations though
CGC
*** Quite a few sites have wisened up though and now use non-Flash presentations.
How dare Motorolla release a product that doesn't meet the established web standards. Who do they think they are telling us the consumer what does and doesn't work well.
[/sarcasm]
Does this mean that the Xoom will not be able to visit the Xoom web site.
BREAKING NEWS: A device not developed by Apple, marketed by Apple, or even MENTIONED by Apple once again gets onto the news feed for APPLE INSIDER.
It's sad that you (AI) have to spend so much time writing articles to paint the competition in a negative light. It's also rather unique to your site and others like it. Sites supposedly devoted to "Apple Insider News and Analysis" spend so much time mocking Android, or WinMO. When I can go to Android/Winmo "News and Analysis" sites and read about... I dunno, news about what the site claims to care about? Before someone rebuts with the "Deathgrip" stories, remember that both manufacturers (Motorola) and Apple themselves brought other OS's into that slugfest. Every other major OS tech site can go weeks without writing an article explicitly about their competition. AI can't seem to do the same.
Now, if Cupertino released a statement about this tablet, or if it was related to Apple in Any meaningful way, you might have a point of mentioning it. But there's not. There is NO POINT of posting this story other than to try and paint your device of choice in a positive light by throwing black tar at the competition.
I'll do your analysis for you: If someone is reading this site there is a high probability they're going to buy the iPad2 instead of this anyway. Those that won't (like myself) won't be convinced to do so by you trying so hard to put the competition in a negative light whenever possible.
You like Apple, we get it. We can see the name of your website and everything. But going out of your way to blast the competition whenever possible isn't "Apple news and Analysis." It's petty.
Comments
It's now been at least 4 years since Steve Jobs originally pronounced Flash as unfit for mobile devices. 4 years! And they still haven't got it right. And yet folks still condemn Jobs for these remarks. I'd say he was right on the money.
You're right. And what a complete joke Motorola is. But really, who on Earth did NOT see something like this coming? (I mean, besides the haters and losers who didn't want to see it. And still won't!)
If Flash isn't enabled on other smart phones how are people experiencing Flash sites now? Since I don't own a smart phone I don't know.
And as for the whole Flash issue, with Apple selling iOS devices by the millions, how long before any site worth visiting will offer a version that works with Apple's products.
Finally an Android user that is honestly reporting what flash is like on a 4" screen phone. I'd bet my savings that SJ and his team tested that 5 years ago and had no choice but to scrap Flash to preserve use experience. No compromises to deliver performance AND friendliness. Anyone talking about Apple's evil plots to lock Adobe out for various monopoly/$$ goals is delusional. If Flash was in fact better suited for portable devices than html5 they'd have adopted it in a flash (pun intended) I'd think.
Agree with your positive comments about the comments from "the Android" user.
It's been reported and I heard SJ say at an All Things Digital interveiw that Apple spent a a fair amount of effort and time working with Adobe's Flash team before the iPhone was announced to get flash working to Apple's standards on iOS and they couldn't get there. Only then was the decision made to jettison Flash in order to maintain usability and keep the iOS project moving forward.
Oh no, the Xoom is doomed! Doomed I say!
How dare Motorolla release a product that doesn't meet the established web standards. Who do they think they are telling us the consumer what does and doesn't work well.
[/sarcasm]
What 'established web standards' would that be?
That term definitely doesn't apply to Flash.
Then this is the PERFECT opportunity for someone to see how fast and smooth everything is, plus battery life *before* Flash is installed (and the 10.2 version) and then run this again afterwards.
Unfortunately, someone would have to buy one first.
Jobs was right again about Adobe Flash on low powered devices, just as he was right about the form factor of the tablets. Shouldn't we just accord him the respect he is due?
I'm sure that one thing Jobs and The President commiserated about at dinner last week was the fact that if either of them cured cancer, their haters would just accuse them of putting researchers out of work.
If Flash isn't enabled on other smart phones how are people experiencing Flash sites now? Since I don't own a smart phone I don't know.
The same way desktop users w/o Flash (or with an old version of Flash) experience them: they see the content the developer decides they should see in lieu of the SWF.
The funniest thing is reading all of the fandroid crap. It was "The iPad can't even run Flash.". Now, it's "It doesn't matter, I don't even have Flash installed.".
Yeah, there something deliciously ironic about this. Nobody does more to validite Jobs' decisions than his detractors and competitors. First they tell us how wrong he is. Then, a year later, they copy him. Too bad for them that apple has moved on to something new by then. Hard to hit a movie target.
As an Android user I must say that having Flash should be a strike against any device.At a counter, if I were given the choice between HAVING Flash and NOT HAVING Flash, of course, I'd say I want one. I'm guessing that the average consumer would want that, too. I *thought* it would be a net positive on my device but more than a year later I'd say it's a painful experience.
Yes, Flash is great with mouse and keyboard but my fat fingers are useless for selecting anything in a Flash element on my device. I'm also so annoyed about having to let yet another thing load in the web page. There are some Flash objects that require detailed selection, dragging, scrolling. Useless on a 4" touchscreen. USELESS.
I have to agree this is similar to my experience with android and flash based website. Good forbid if you not on a 3G connect at the time which you hit one of these sites and have to select flash pull downs or something. It is not an easy task, so I do not access those sites if I can void it. I honestly did not think this was flash issue at the time, I mostly those those idiot develop thought is would be cute to do all these fancy things verse just making the site usable.
To me FLASH is not all that important. I would rather have longer battery life. Also Flash on the Ipad would only lead to more annoying adds. I'd rather see HTML5 make its way into new technology.
Flash was the ONLY reason the CPU would heat up on my laptops and spin up the fan to annoying noise levels when just sitting idle on a web page. The web page doesn't even have to have Flash content per se; the Flash banner ads would be hogging the CPU. Imagine that on a tablet. Well, I guess we don't have to imagine because Xoom is gonna show us this wonderful new world of suck.
Best
For me it is once. I couldn't compelte a purchase on art.com and I had to wait until I got to a PC, which given I was on the road in Hong Kong, was actually a problem for me.
The only other website I've even noticed the lack of Flash is the San Jose Sharks website, and I've just started going elsewhere for my Sharks news.
Then this is the PERFECT opportunity for someone to see how fast and smooth everything is, plus battery life *before* Flash is installed (and the 10.2 version) and then run this again afterwards.
If you prefer the features of the Xoom over the iPad, please do buy it, and share your share your results.
I like to disable Flash though in my computer, and I am enjoying mostly "ad-free sites"*** among those that I frequent, like the New York Times. I simply get the "f" space. And, if I am curious enough, I can always click the "f" space. One definite advantage, most sites that I visit now load faster and I encounter less overall slowing when I have a gazillion browsers and applications.
You do not have to trust my observations though
CGC
*** Quite a few sites have wisened up though and now use non-Flash presentations.
Oh no, the Xoom is doomed! Doomed I say!
How dare Motorolla release a product that doesn't meet the established web standards. Who do they think they are telling us the consumer what does and doesn't work well.
[/sarcasm]
Does this mean that the Xoom will not be able to visit the Xoom web site.
That is awesome.
It's sad that you (AI) have to spend so much time writing articles to paint the competition in a negative light. It's also rather unique to your site and others like it. Sites supposedly devoted to "Apple Insider News and Analysis" spend so much time mocking Android, or WinMO. When I can go to Android/Winmo "News and Analysis" sites and read about... I dunno, news about what the site claims to care about? Before someone rebuts with the "Deathgrip" stories, remember that both manufacturers (Motorola) and Apple themselves brought other OS's into that slugfest. Every other major OS tech site can go weeks without writing an article explicitly about their competition. AI can't seem to do the same.
Now, if Cupertino released a statement about this tablet, or if it was related to Apple in Any meaningful way, you might have a point of mentioning it. But there's not. There is NO POINT of posting this story other than to try and paint your device of choice in a positive light by throwing black tar at the competition.
I'll do your analysis for you: If someone is reading this site there is a high probability they're going to buy the iPad2 instead of this anyway. Those that won't (like myself) won't be convinced to do so by you trying so hard to put the competition in a negative light whenever possible.
You like Apple, we get it. We can see the name of your website and everything. But going out of your way to blast the competition whenever possible isn't "Apple news and Analysis." It's petty.