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Comment by ryandvm | Hacker News Reader

The web without Flash would be a better place, but the fact is that there isn't any viable open replacement. Yes, HTML5 can replace Flash for video. That's great and all, but it's probably the least interesting thing that Flash does.

Want to use Google Analytics? Sorry. Need Flash.

Want to see StreetView? Need Flash.

Hulu? Need Flash.

Aviary? Need Flash.

Games? Need Flash.

Apple's answer to everything but video is to buy it from the App Store. Really? Buying shit from the App Store is not the Internet I signed up for.

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Google analytics: http://analyticsapp.com/

Street view: http://googlemobile.blogspot.com/2008/11/google-maps-for-iph... (since 2008)

Hulu: coming as a native app (http://gizmodo.com/5506892/hulu-app-coming-to-ipad)

Aviary: neat app; there are image editors on the iPhone, but I'm not familiar enough with Aviary to find something comparable. Maybe there isn't anything.

Games: There are tons of games on the iPhone and iPad that don't need Flash. Command and Conquer is one of them, and Final Fantasy I and II are some of my favourites. There are also tons of independent games, like Implode, Tiki Totems, and MotionX Poker, as well as pseudo-indie games like Plants vs. Zombies and Peggle.

So, are you really so averse to paying someone for their time? Nothing comes for nothing, and if you're so broke that you can't shell out a few bucks for an app that makes your life easier, you probably can't afford an iPhone either.

That las paragraph strikes me as inconsiderate and a lot of guess-work. There's nothing wrong in wanting a website to work in a device who markets itself as something to browse "the full web".

As he said: "Buying shit from the App Store is not the Internet I signed up for.", but that's Apple's vision for internet. One they control, pre-approve and sell in their market.

You're basing a lot of this off of current implementations of these websites. Which one of these could not be done (at least a large portion of it) in HTML5? Each of these seems like there is HTML5 functionality to enable most of the functions and features of these websites.

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