Page 1 of 1 With Flash Player 8 right around the corner, Flash content creators are once again finding themselves in the position of determining how quickly they can start producing content for the new player. In this article, you learn about the history of Flash Player penetration, and how to assess the viability of pushing Flash Player 8 content as soon as it's publicly available.
Note: At the time of this writing, Flash Player 8 was available as a public beta. Flash Player 8 should be in its first non-beta release mid to late September 2005.
Macromedia frequently measures the pace at which Flash Player versions have been installed around the world. You can view the most current results from the Flash Player support page on Macromedia's site. What you won't find on this page, however, are the actual release dates of each Flash Player. After a little scouring on the Internet, I determined the following release dates:
Flash Player 5: July 2000
Flash Player 6: June 2002
Flash Player 7: September 2003
So, based on the current penetration statistics, we can make the following observations:
So what threshold does a given Flash Player need to reach in order to give most Flash content producers the confidence to deploy content in a specific player version? Of course, the answer isn't simple. Some interactive agencies only feel comfortable deploying Flash Player-specific content when the version reaches a 90% adoption rate across the board. However, if you need a specific feature for your Flash content that's only available in a newer player, then you might accept a lower adoption rate and hope that visitors who don't have that version of the plug-in will be motivated to get the new player.
Macromedia has high hopes for a much faster adoption rate for Flash Player 8. Why? Flash Player 7 was deployed with a built-in auto-update feature, which enables the Flash Player to check Macromedia's web site every 30 days for a new version. The user can change this setting in the Flash Player Settings Manager on Macromedia's site, but chances are that most people aren't savvy enough (or don't mind) the default settings to go change them. So, if all goes according to Macromedia's plans, within 30 days of the official release of Flash Player 8, most people who have Flash Player 7 installed will automatically be upgraded to Flash Player 8.
More importantly, Macromedia's new Flash Player Detection Kit includes a new feature named Express Install. This feature enables anyone with Flash Player 6 r65 or higher to upgrade to Flash Player 8 within the same window as your Flash 8 content! This capability is truly remarkable, because the plug-in (or ActiveX control) updating is virtually painless for the end user. In other words, most of your visitors don't need to download any Flash Player installer or worry about ActiveX control warning dialog boxes.
Note: If you've ever used Macromedia Central or Macromedia Breeze, you may have already seen the mechanisms behind Express Install at work. Both of those applications can install additional plug-ins for Flash playback without requiring you to download a separate installer file.
Regardless of adoption rates or easy-to-use update features of the Flash Player, the requirements of your Flash content may very well dictate the need to push your site visitors to install the newest Flash Player. With Flash Player 8, consider the following features that may appeal to your business clients:
There are more features to Flash Player 8, but this list can give you the starting point (or justification!) to unleash a flurry of Flash Player 8 content on the Web.
Another aspect of Flash Player 8 content planning exists on a more ideological level. You can call it a "take the bull by the horns" and "bleeding edge" type of thinking. Many of your business clients (or you!) may want to use Flash Player 8 simply because it's the latest and greatest tool. Who wants to advertise that they're using two year old Internet technology for "new" content on their Web site? From personal experience, I often need to carefully consider my own zealous interests with Flash Player technology versus the realized benefits of using newer technology. Meaning, if you don't really need to use the newest player, why push it? Many business clients have the attitude that, if something can be built for an earlier version of the player, why build in a new version? Consider the following points whenever you're up against a Luddite who's angling to use older Flash Player technology:
You may also want to consider something else: if everyone decided to wait for someone else to push Flash Player 8 content, then we'd all be waiting for a long time for the adoption rates to climb. Most people who use the Internet for research, entertainment, shopping, and so on are not Web content producers. In other words, they won't be heading to Macromedia's site on their own to download the latest player. You have to compel people to update their players. Do you want to be the one to push them? Or do you want to wait for someone else to?
How long you wait to deploy Flash Player 8 content can depend on a variety of factors, from project (or content) requirements to customer expectations to personal conviction.
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Keywords
Flash Player, adoption trends, penetration rates, business objectives
