The Teckki Says

In researching this article, I looked at several sites that have motion, animation and video - the Chicago Tribune, Disney and YouTube. They have one thing in common within their websites - they use animation software from Adobe called Flash. Not all animation is Flash, but in the overwhelming majority of cases, such as video, slide shows, many ads, games and some navigation, Flash is the tool of choice, and the defacto standard in website development.

This is more than a "nice to know" fact. The issue was pushed to the forefront last month when Apple's CEO Steve Jobs wrote and article on Apple's website to answer both customers and critics that Flash will never play on the iPad, as it did not do so on the iPhone and iPod Touch. Apple also took steps to ensure this by banning software developers from using tools other than its own to create apps for these devices. No more Flash means more than just no more pizazz, but the items I mentioned above, like video, games and other items developed in Flash, don't show up on Apple's mobile devices. If your navigation is developed in Flash, visitors to your site cannot move beyond the page they land on. This has serious consequences as to how your website is developed if you plan on your visitors being able to use these devices to view your site.

There are several things you can do resolve this, but bottom line is that you will probably develop two websites: one for computers, the other for mobile devices. On the surface, this seems like an extra expense, and it is. However, the website world is quickly moving from a one-size-fits-all environment, to one where multiple device types will access the web. The experience of sitting at a stationary computer is different from interacting with a device while in motion. As more flat screen TV's become Internet-capable, an entirely new web viewing experience will come into play, making websites developed for viewing via a 17" to 22" computer screens inadequate. But before you engage your developer in programming for new media, consider the following:

(1). Where is your audience, TODAY!
For anyone claiming that if you don't have a website, you don't have a business, I can find businesses that don't have websites, and are doing fine now, and will be in the future. In these businesses, the phone still works, and the doors are still open. The difference is they know where their customers are, but more importantly, their customers know where they are. Generally, no one is totally off the grid because search engines like Google has made it their business to put as much information out as possible, and businesses get listed through other means, such as memberships in organizations with website directories. But if a majority of your customers are walk-by's, how useful will your website really be, let alone someone searching online for you so that they can walk by your location?

(2). If being on the web is the future, what part of the "future" is yours?
It has been reported Apple has sold over 75 million iPhone OS devices (includes the iPod Touch) through last year. We can probably assume that better than 50% of these devices are still active. Apple recently announced that it sold a million iPads in the first month of availability. All of these devices are web-capable. How many of these device owners are actually a part of your targeted audience? These devices are definitely the future, but how long will they be potential? Even if all of your customers sported iPhones, will they use them to browse your site? You may be better off developing an app.

(3). How interactive is your website?
This is a very important question. The reason people migrate to these devices from computers is mobility, convenience and speed. Some sites require extensive interactivity, and need to be accessed using a computer and mouse. Other sites can be made very complex by reducing the size of the screen they are displayed on. Moving from one screen size to another can sometimes be compared from moving from a larger house to a smaller one - you are going to have to do a lot of rearranging, and some things will not be brought to the new house. A smaller screen may require a major re-engineering effort and purpose for your website.

All of the points above speak more to your business and your customers than to the technology that connects you both. While it is unsettling, and technology can usually transform entire industries overnight, ignoring how your customers interact with you can transform your business much quicker. Flash will be around awhile, because Adobe listens to its customers. Apple may or may not be a part of the equation, but their customers don't seem to mind too much, after all, a million iPads just got sold, and not one of them does Flash.