[Lex Computer & Tech Group/LCTG] Flash

Thu Mar 19 02:29:30 PDT 2020

 Short answer -- they will adapt. It would be very easy to set up a Guide based on HTML5 . 
Another short answer -- if you now rely on your ISP for local broadcast channels, start looking into getting your own Off the Air recorder and antenna. 
I use TiVo Bolt OTA. Its TiVo Online remote access services and Guide do not rely on Flash Player. (Streaming away from home was until recently not supported.) TiVo Online is Windows or Linux compatible, and apps are available for Android and Apple phones. 
More detailed answer:
Physical DVR boxes may be retired. Remote access may be replaced with a Cloud-only streaming service, with no physical DVR and a new, non-Flash Guide service. Shows and episodes would be offered much the way Netflix does things now -- shows would be available during a limited month or months, then retired from general availability. You would not record a local copy of anything, but would have a playlist online. 
Due to the persistence of broadcast (OTA) TV, the Guide must still list the OTA network and local channels with program broadcast days and times. But other cable channels may be moving over to their own bundles with their own branded streaming services. These services would not need a grid-style Guide for finding programs to stream. You would not need to set up recordings or use a physical DVR box for such Cloud streaming services. A revamped Program Guide will not be Flash based, I guarantee. 
Long answer:
The Comcast Cloud DVR, remote access (including their interactive guide) and all streaming services must stop using Flash Player when Adobe stops providing security updates for Flash Player, at the end of 2020. I am pretty sure Comcast, Xfinity and XFi will all be updated this year to reflect this reality. 
What makes me dislike Comcast Cloud DVR is the fact that the company does not support Linux for this service -- yet. But read on about how Windows and its Edge Browser are changing.
Microsoft Edge, which is now based on the Chromium (not Google Chrome) browser engine, will no longer support Flash Player once Adobe stops updating it. Edge has joined Chrome and Firefox in warning users to turn off Flash Player unless a site or service requires it, as of January of this year. That's what the blue Warning Bar in your web browsers is about now. 
A physical DVR box may no longer be offered by Comcast, and the Guide and Remote Access services would then disappear in their present form. To be replaced with a Cloud or streaming service, with virtual storage space and automatic removal of "recorded" shows after a specified time. Sort of like the old Apple iTunes service, but entirely in the Cloud. There would be a new Guide to go along with the Cloud DVR service. Flash would likely be retired by then. 

AT&T has already gone over to a streaming-only model in most places. "Wireline" DVR services are being phased out, and even satellite dish based services are being retired. The physical DVR box is going away, but no one knows just when. Comcast may be planning on following this trend. A new Guide service would likely come along with this trend. Flash Player will be retired by then. 
When and if true 5G "fixed" (home) services come to your neighborhood (Waltham is negotiating for 5G infrastructure right now) all home Internet and former TV and DVR based services could be offered as streaming services. This would change Guide services drastically, maybe even eliminating the use of the Grid style guides, which are based on programming being broadcast over the air at fixed days and times. Flash Player has no future whatsoever in these services. 
Our future may see "Cable" channels folded into subscription streaming services, with the services being offered directly by content providers, not the present Cable Companies like Comcast and Cox and "Telecos" like AT&T and Verizon. Pricing would then be set by the content providers, not the ISPs. None of the content providers relies on Flash Player anymore. 
While I would like to see ala carte, choose your own bundle services, I suspect bundles by content brand or (former) broadcast network will persist for the immediate future. 
-- Bob Primak
    On Wednesday, March 18, 2020, 11:19:53 PM EDT, Carl Lazarus <carllazarus at comcast.net> wrote:  

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I think it is the job of Comcast (and the other services) to replace their use of Flash with something else.  Flash has been discouraged for a while because of security weaknesses.

-- Carl

From: LCTG [mailto:lctg-bounces+carllazarus=comcast.net at lists.toku.us] On Behalf Of jjrudy1 at comcast.net
Sent: Wednesday, March 18, 2020 3:13 PM
To: Lex Computer Group <LCTG at lists.toku.us>
Subject: [Lex Computer & Tech Group/LCTG] Flash

This message shows up on my Google screen

A number of my services, like the TV schedule from Comcast, require Flash.  Does anyone know what happens 1/1/21?

John Rudy

781-861-0402

781-718-8334 (cell)

20 Heritage Drive

Lexington, MA  02420

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