2015年1月30日
By 1月时特约编辑
专题文章

评论:闪电侠又死了(打哈欠)

So, YouTube最终率先使用HTML5 with Flash Fallback, triggering another round of "Flash Is Dead" 文章. Hey, didn't Flash die when Apple shipped the iPad without it? I remember reading lots of 文章 back then telling me it was so. 确定, 现在更真实了, 但现在还不要给Adobe送花, as Flash will live on for at least several more years.

Let's review the current crop of "Flash Is Dead" 文章. 我最喜欢的一个是in CNET; you can see the headline below. Stephen Shankland, 这篇文章是谁写的, has a very solid grasp of the codec and video standards space, 尽管在这种情况下, I think the headline (which authors seldom write) is a bit hyperbolic. 有趣的是, 他总结道, ，尽管Flash播放器仍然被广泛使用, that usage increasingly will be only on sites that aren't updated to keep up with current technology.“CNET仍然使用Flash制作视频. 哦.

我也发现了类似的不一致技术雷达, which doesn't deploy nearly as much video as CNET but runs Flash-based adverts on its site. 嗯. 闪电侠死了，但我们还是需要它来支付账单?

Beyond these ironies, I ran a couple of quick surveys. First I checked broadcast and other premium sites who need to protect their content with DRM. 测试, I visited the site using the latest version of Chrome, 找到了最容易接近的视频, and right-clicked to see what technology they were using.

ABC was tough to figure out, because the right click didn't reveal any 信息. I scanned the page source code and found a reference to the Flash Player, 但不能确定他们首先默认使用Flash. 其余的人都这么做了, 包括亚马逊, though the site advised you to use Firefox or Safari with Silverlight for better quality.

为什么高级网站仍在使用Flash? Because the Encrypted Media Extensions (EME) that enable DRM under HTML5 have more issues than a certain Patriots 球童据说是deflate事件. 点击在这里 to read a column explaining some of the issues with EME, and click 在这里 to watch a 流媒体 West presentation that covers the issues in depth. The bottom line is that HTML5 will ultimately work for DRM, 但这将是一个浏览器接一个浏览器, device-by-device情况. 这不会在一夜之间发生.

Moving on, I next checked Livestream and Ustream; both still used the Flash Player. 留在流媒体行业, 我查了一下Brightcove网站, 还在使用Flash, but noted that both 创作 and Ooyala 使用HTML5 on their websites. 布拉沃、进步.

Just to be snippy, I checked the media customers 创作 noted on their site. HBO和NBA TV仍然使用Flash, though Paramount and Warner Bothers 使用HTML5 for free movie trailers (Warner via YouTube), TMZ则使用HTML5. It's the same dynamic I saw on the first batch I surveyed—sites protecting their videos still use Flash; those that don't, 使用HTML5.

接下来我查看了十大科技网站，根据 Webtoptenz. I found ome movement towards HTML5, but still a lot of Flash. Again, none of these sites care about protecting their video, so DRM was not an issue. 最后, 我没有做很多研究, 但据我所知, I did more than any reporter who proclaimed that Flash was dead, 在几个关键市场, 闪电侠还活着.

这意味着什么?

什么是net/net? HTML5肯定会到来, though the Media Source Extensions (MSE) that enable higher-end features like adaptive streaming and live streaming still aren't implemented in all browsers and devices. While YouTube has the programming budget to design around this, most smaller publishers don't.

对于优质内容发布者, DRM将成为一个巨大的限制因素, 从第一张表可以看出. 超高清编解码器将是另一个巨大的限制因素, 因为没有免费的HEVC选项, and it's unlikely that the VP9 decode will ever make its way into Safari or Internet Explorer. How any publisher will universally deploy a UHD codec or codecs across browsers and devices is very unclear at this time, 除了Adobe黄金时段, 下面讨论.

然后, 当然, t在这里's inertia; For every fire-breathing, 狂热的爱国主义, 穿凉鞋的闪电侠, t在这里 are dozens of CFOs and CMOs and other C-level types who just don't give a flip: "Hey, 如果Flash对广播网站来说足够好, 对我们来说已经足够好了, Why spend the cash to changeover when we've got phablets to buy?" My 17-year-old daughter has an opinion on everything, 让我告诉你, 虽然她知道闪电侠是什么, 不管怎样，她都不在乎. The bottom line is that most people who aren't technical just don't care, and neither do the folks who would have to pay the freight to change over from Flash to HTML5.

换一种方式说, 超越技术, the value proposition for HTML5-based video has never really been firmly articulated. So why would we expect everyone to fall into line just because YouTube finally changed from Flash first to HTML5 with Flash fallback? It really is nothing more than switching the order of a few lines of HTML code.

Finally, let's address the misguided "Flash Is Dead" comments. From w在这里 I sit, the simplest solution for both the DRM issues and UHD issues is Adobe黄金时段, a premium, Flash-based platform that could keep Flash kicking for a long, long time. 你可以在同一列上面引用的.

总结一下, YouTube delivers a tremendous percentage of video traffic, 让所有其他网站都相形见绌. 但它仍然只是一个站点, with a very unique set of interests that are very different from those that deliver premium content, 还有很多其他网站. Drawing broad-based technology conclusions based upon YouTube's practices is just a mistake. 至少在优质内容领域是这样, a site like ESPN or CNN is a much better canary in the coal mine than YouTube.

整体, I don't disagree with Shankland's conclusions; I just think they're about 12-24 months premature, and don't take into account the potential impact of Primetime. To paraphrase Mark Twain, rumors of Flash's imminent demise are (once again) greatly exaggerated.