I was very interested in reading Justin’s responses to Armando’s questions but was ultimately let down in that Justin answers questions like a politician: without an ounce of substance.
The problem with Flash is that in its current state it requires a site to double the code/content (HTML + XML) in order to serve appropriate content to all viewers. Armando asked how Flash works with Screen Readers and Search engines and the answer was the same: [We have API calls available for those technologies, it’s up to them to use them]. This tells me the Flash team doesn’t understand the problem nor are they willing to be a part of the solution, only shift the blame if said site doesn’t perform the way it’s supposed to.
What is Flash supposed to do? Flash needs to be able to sit on top of a functional (consumable by all media, data driven, visual or auditorial) metadata content layer: HTML. Why you ask? It’s the only method of data delivery that is consumable by all things “web.” Having the content in a central location gives two massive benefits that I have yet to see the Flash community answer with any semblance of assurance: How do you (the consumer) determine which content is more important Flash+XML or HTML? Search engines (the single largest internet consumers) and if you have a screen reader would read BOTH and divide the value of the data between both sources. Search rankings suffer as the value associated with a site is divided equally between the two sources of information and screen readers end up having to dive into and duplicate content to the listener. Neither is an answer to the problem and in my opinion creates more problems than we had before. We’ve already see Flash/HTML site solutions drop in SERPs due to the Link Juice be divided between the two links (one flash, the other html). Rand Fishkin pointed this out in both the new book and his article referenced by Armando.
Flash should act as a substitute for CSS/Javascript and happily sit above the HTML. What Armando should have asked Justin is “Why is this so hard to achieve and what is Flash (Adobe) doing to help internet consumers simplify their data consumption?” And the answer is Flash is trying to create its own “browser”: Air. Why? Another good question for Armando but I believe they see the writing on the wall: Flash is a dying solution to rich multimedia on the web. They’re focusing their efforts on creating a new delivery method. Maybe the right move? Maybe not, only time will tell. Personally I’d like to see them embrace their role as a substitute for CSS/Javascript and push rich web multimedia by providing lightweight fast answers for questions CSS/Javascript can’t answer across all browsers. But what do I know…
I currently have one Air app (Tweetdeck) installed on my computer and it takes up almost as much memory as my browser does with 20 tabs open. Yes, that’s around 250mb of RAM to get… 140 characters of text. Delivery method outlook? Not great.