While there has been some theorizing to the contrary, I personally do not believe that the iPad will spell be the end of Flash.  While Flash isn’t deliverable to the iPad or the iPhone right now, at some point Apple and Adobe will hammer out some sort of arrangement that will enable Flash applications to be deliverable to both platforms.

Flash just brings too many features to the dynamic content table that can’t be accomplished with the technologies that drive the interfaces for the iPhone and iPad.  Flash is still very capable of dealing with text and animation, and Flash video is a platform that has a pretty solid foundation of support across the Web.  In terms of delivering content though a browser experience, Flash has the necessary capabilities that will ensure it will be here for a long time to come.

The very straight-up, object-oriented programming involved with developing applications enables users to do whatever they want and deliver whatever content they want.  Generally speaking, however, the way those Apple SDKs are designed does not provide apps for the iPad and iPhone that have the same kind of quality in terms of animation and video that can be driven through a Flash application.

The iPad platform is not going to affect Flash in the short term to any great degree.  I just think it’ll all boil down to Apple and Adobe sitting down and figuring out some sort of agreement that gets Flash into the iPad/iPhone mix.  In the long run, that’ll benefit everybody.

The fifteenth anniversary of the banner ad’s debut took place last month so we thought we’d ask our creative director, Jeremy Pope, for a quick take on the past and future of the display ad.  We also tapped our art director, Jeremy Williams, for his views as well.  You can check them out here.

The first 15 years of the banner ad has shown us that it’s another great medium for communicating to the world.  The next 15, however, will feature changes that will expand how banners can attract the attention of a brand’s target audience, connect with them, and better spread a brand’s marketing message.

The future of banner ads will involve a lot more straight-up video.  Banners will feature video snippets.  I think there will be all kinds of different sizes of video content.  As everything gets rearranged on users’ screens, video content will come to the forefront and will by far be ahead of the other forms of content.  Video will be more than just another online advertising element—all of the available space will be populated and dominated by video.  So a banner ad will need to deliver more than just a simple billboard or some flash.  It will need video to make an impact.

The cost for the production of these next generation banner ads will have an incremental increase based on all the factors that surround the video medium.  But in terms of delivering content to a brand’s target audience, especially with everything now starting to make a rush toward video, I think that the banner ad will become an ideal means of placing video content in front of consumers.