“People who like this sort of thing will find this the sort of thing they like.” —Abraham Lincoln

A recent article featuring similar logic (but without the sense of irony) can be found on DevGrow.com: Why Flash is here to stay.

Let’s be clear — I’m not saying Flash isn’t here to stay — Flash has a lot going for it.

DevGrow.com states: “Let’s face it, Flash is everywhere these days” and “…almost everyone has Flash player installed (99% of internet users, for those too lazy to check the link).”

Please: let’s stop pretending that Flash is ubiquitous, shall we? It’s misleading, as they say in parliament.

Those of us who weren’t too lazy to follow the link will note that Adobe is a bit more careful with their claims, qualifying this impressive-sounding statistic with the term Internet-enabled desktops.

It’s not a small difference.

While Adobe is careful in the small print to specify that it’s 99% of “internet-enabled PCs”, they’re happy to run the chart under the misleading subheading Flash content reaches 99% of Internet viewers.

The impression Adobe is trying to create here is:

People without Flash = nobody

I’m not sure why they don’t go one tiny step further and point out that 100% of people with Flash installed have installed Flash.

According to Steve Jobs, during the iPhone OS 4 keynote, iPhone has 64% of the mobile internet market. So much for Flash’s supposed ubiquity. Interestingly, Flash isn’t currently running on any of the remaining 36% of the mobile internet market, either. Certainly not in the author-once, publish-everywhere sense (Flash lite isn’t Flash).

While Flash will begin to ship for some non-Apple mobile devices after Adobe releases the full 10.1 player, at least for those users whose providers allow it, it isn’t even there now. So why act as though it is?

The fact remains that pretending Apple’s mobile devices don’t exist, and barging ahead anyway ignores the fact that 85 million Apple devices (plus more than a half-million iPads) that will likely never have Flash enabled, are in use today.

So should we use Flash or not?

If your website specifically targets Android or Blackberry users, great. Ignore iPhones, iPods touch and iPads. Otherwise, there are 85 million Apple devices — and untold millions of non-Apple mobile devices — in the wild that can’t see your Flash content.

The impression Apple is trying to create is:

85,000,000 ≠ nobody

I think a reasonable person must agree with Apple on this point.

As for Adobe’s claim… Back to you, Mr President: “You can fool all the people some of the time…”

Start with a video

Where has your video come from? The old adage, “garbage in, garbage out”, is especially true for video, and not all sources were created equal:

• Digital camcorders are an ideal source; their clean, noise-free video compresses really well and is easy to work with. Standard definition or high-definition will work fine.
• Screencasts are also an excellent source and, despite usually being compressed during the recording process, are well-suited to posting online.
• Video DVDs might be okay as a source, depending on how good they were to start with, but they’ve already been heavily compressed for the DVD, and re-compressing them for the web will degrade the final picture quality and/or increase filesize. If you can, get the original digital files that the DVD was made from instead of ripping them.
• VHS tapes won’t provide anything you’ll be proud of. The sad fact is that from a technical standpoint, VHS — even the higher-quality S-VHS — is quite poor. If you have to use VHS as a source, be prepared to use it at smaller sizes, and be prepared for it to look dodgy.

You’ve got an edited piece and you’re ready to unleash it on the world.

How do I get my video onto my site?

You have 2 main choices:

Host it on a third-party site (YouTube, Vimeo, Flickr or Facebook, etc.)

• Advantages:
  • inexpensive — it’s free in most cases to set up a basic account
  • simple — it shields you from the technical complexities of video formats and compression options
  • easy — it’s easy to copy a link that you can use to place your video into your web site
  • flexible — some sites (YouTube, Vimeo) will convert your clip to multiple sizes and formats (suitable for desktop browsers, Apple TVs and mobile devices like iPhones, iPods and iPads)
  • encourages sharing — it’s easy for others to embed your videos on their own sites
  • robust — these content-distribution networks (CDNs) can handle a lot of traffic should your video become wildly popular
  • exposure — sites like YouTube get a lot of traffic, which can’t hurt
  • social — people can comment on your video.
• Disadvantages (many of these will be especially true of free accounts):
  • support — may not have high-priority support; may have to rely on FAQs or user-populated support forums
  • limitations — may limit the number of videos per month you can upload
  • limitations — may limit your videos’ length
  • limitations — may limit the amount of bandwidth you may consume per month
  • lack of control — you don’t own the web site your video is hosted on, so you have no control over content policies, your videos’ address, what other content might appear on their site, or how they handle disputes arising with other users of the site (if someone accuses you of stealing content or of defaming them, it may take a long time to settle; this would be a rare occurrence, however)
  • ambiguity — if the company is acquired by another company, then the terms & conditions under which you uploaded your video may change
  • “related” videos — you may not have any control on what content the hosting company chooses to show alongside your video as ‘related’. If keywords associated with your clips have unfortunate other meanings, or unfortunate associations, that could be uncomfortable. An example would be the word “Fundy”, as in “Bay of Fundy”. “Fundy” is also a short-hand term for a religious fundamentalist; the association may be innocent, but that doesn’t mean you want it or can prevent it. Keep in mind that these things also change over time, so it would be wise to monitor your related videos on a regular basis (e.g. the Wisconsin Tourism Federation wasn’t happy when “WTF” took on a new popular meaning, and went so far as to change their name over it).
  • unwanted advertising — your video may well have advertising superimposed on it; the content of the ads may be related to the content of your video, again exposing you to the vagaries of keyword-association. You may even find ads for your competitors in your own clips on your own web site.
  • legal implications — what country or countries are your files hosted from? What are the laws in those countries?
  • user comments — people can comment on your video — yes, this was also listed as an advantage. It’s best not to be squeamish about this, but really: have you seen some of the comments on YouTube? Either way, people can still comment on your video using Facebook or Twitter, so keep an eye on things, and engage in the conversation — don’t be a victim of it.

Host it on your own web site

• Advantages:
  • simple — your web developer will shield you from the technical complexities of video formats and compression options, and will embed your video in your web site for you.
  • targeted — your web developer/compressionist will make appropriate technical recommendations based on your content and your site’s audience.
  • controlled — since you own the web site (you do own your domain, right?), you are in complete control of the file, its address, your site’s policies, etc.
  • on-message — no third party will be able to insert advertising or associate your video with third-party content.
  • high-quality — your web developer/compressionist’s skills should ensure the end-result is high-quality video — including brightening, enhancing colour and contrast, sharpening and cropping.
• Disadvantages:
  • expense — there may be bandwidth costs associated with hosting video files if they’re large and/or popular. Ask your hosting company about this. You will also have to pay to have your video compressed, uploaded and added to your site.
  • discourages sharing — it will be more difficult for others to embed your video into their web sites; whether this is truly an advantage or a disadvantage is up to you.
  • not so social — If your site doesn’t already allow commenting or discussion in the way that video sharing sites typically do, then it makes it more difficult for your video to effectively draw people into a conversation with you or your business. With some effort on your part, though, you can still take advantage of Facebook and Twitter to engage your customers directly.

Next time: file formats, Apple vs. Adobe, HTML5, and some tips for great online video…