Tagged: flash

iToldYouSo

Two years ago, a bunch of smart people told the BBC that its plans to build iPlayer for Android on Adobe Flash was nuts.

We argued loudly, passionately, deployed logic and reason, and provided specific technical details.

Naturally, we were ignored.

Sure, Flash was only on a few high end devices now, but the BBC were confident that Flash would be soon be available on all Android devices and our perceived problems would evaporate.

Naturally, reality decided to ignore their wishful thinking.

Two years and one week after the BBC announced its Flash for Android strategy, Adobe announced it was killing Flash for Android.

High end Android devices like the Nexus - and any device running Android 4.1 would be incapable of running Flash. So there was no way to use iPlayer.


For those asking about Nexus 7 / Jelly Bean 4.1 - we are testing the app and will be releasing an update soon. Thanks for your patience.
13/08/2012 19:41 via Tweetbot for iOSReplyRetweetFavorite
@BBCiPlayer
BBC iPlayer

This failure is exactly what happens when you choose vendor driven proprietary "solutions" rather than established and open standards.

This embarrassing turn of events is exactly what happens when you refuse to listen to the geeks making logical arguments.

This monumental cock-up over the Olympics is exactly what happens when you refuse to engage with reality and let prejudice drive your decision making process.

Here are the facts:

  • Most Android devices cannot use the Flash based iPlayer app.
  • Mobile Flash is now dead for future phones and tablets.
  • Android devices can play exactly the same files as those served to the iPhone via iPlayer
    .

So why not just serve up the iPhone's MP4 files to any device which can play them? The BBC refuse to answer that simple question.

Want to know something funny? I was blogging about how to deliver iPlayer's iPhone streams to other models of mobile in March 2008!

Plus ça change.

We can only guess what shenanigans were involved with the BBC's original decision to bet the Android farm on Flash.

Perhaps now our BBC will pay more attention to the geeks who care so much about it.

Lacoste QR Campaign

Nick Burcher has done a great job detailing Lacoste's new QR code campaign.

Being the curmudgeon that I am, I want to point out a couple of rather glaring flaws in its execution.

Contrast

See if you can scan in the code on this image. The image links to Nick's site if you want the full resolution version.
Lacoste store QR code window

I tried several different phones and scanners and wasn't able to get the code to scan. This is because QR codes are designed to be black and white. As I've explained before, most QR readers will assume light colours are white and treat them as a background image. This means that many reader just won't be able to scan the code.

I've made the contrast much higher which has resulted in a more readable code.
Lacoste QR with better contrast

Content

The next troubling flaw is the content present on the site. It appears to be a flash game of Pong.

Lacoste Flash Game

While I'm no fan of the iPhone, excluding it from your campaign doesn't seem like a smart move.

Trying to capture your visitors' details is a great idea - but doing it on a tiny flash screen is a usability disaster.

Lacoste Register Screen

Lessons Learned

  1. Test your QR code on as many scanners as possible. Especially if you're doing something "interesting" with it.
  2. Test your site on as many phones as possible. Watch people interact with the site and see what changes you should make before setting it live.
  3. Reduce the data in your QR code. Lacoste are using "http://www.lacostechampionship.com/" - they could save themselves ~40 bytes to make a smaller, more readable code by using "http://lacostechampionship.com"