FedEx will deliver you $5.00 just to install Flash

FedEx is offering customers US$5 to enable Adobe Flash in their browsers. The offer's being made to users of FedEx Office Print, the custom printing tentacle of the transport company. FedEx Office Print lets customers design posters, signs, manuals, banners and even promotional magnets. But the web-based config-o-tronic …

[quxinot]

In a related story, UPS stock predicted to rise....

[Hans 1]

>For those of you willing to to run the gauntlet, the code “FLA726” saves you the fiver. Don't go abusing it, the rest of you! ®

Thanks but no, I do not use their "printing" services ... how many customers do they have using this ? Would it not have been cheaper to fix the problem a decade ago ? I know, hindsight ... but Feynman, the writing has been on the wall for flash for over a decade, why does it take so long ? Oh, true, Windows users with their silly incapable ie ... forgot about those, but still, ie 10 has been around for a while now, the first version, iirc, to offer decent support for HTML5 and XP was terminated a while ago.

FedEx got caught with their underpants down, how many more are out there with flash ? You would not want that to happen to your business, so move your backside and dump Flash now, FFS!

[Nate Amsden]

I use it. Haven't owned a printer since 2004. I don't print often, maybe once every other month. Back when I lived close to the office I was based out of I would just print at work. Now work is a 2hr drive away so fedex office it is.

I've thought about getting a printer but have little doubt an inkjet would dry up long before i ran out of ink and a laser is just overkill.

Actually been thinking about printing blank tax forms to do my taxes. So that may be my next pront job. Yeah I guess i am old school. Only filed taxes online once with turbo tax, that year was more complicated. Normally it's just a 20min job filling out the 1040 form.

Bank of America shop safe virtual credit cards use flash too.

I can't think of any other sites I use flash for off the top of my head.

I like flash myself. Especially for ads. Easy to keep it off or click to run when needed. Maybe someday html 5 animations and videos will be standard click to run too.

[Nate Amsden]

Oh another bit. Flash is not required for basic printing. My local fedex office just said i can email them the document and they can print it just fine.(and I have before)

But if you need special paper or formatting etc maybe more complex than just using flash on the website

[chivo243]

Not for $50

Flash? Really? 2017? I guess they failed to plan which was the plan for failure...

[Steve Davies 3]

How does this work with an iDevice?

Which as we all know has never had Flash.

If it works on say an iPad then there has to be a way to get around the clear stupidity of FedEx.

[Steve the Cynic]

Re: How does this work with an iDevice?

It invites you to download an app from the App Store , and use that to place your order.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: How does this work with an iDevice?

>If it works on say an iPad then there has to be a way to get around the clear stupidity of FedEx.

The iPad app (and Flash) has access to your printer settings (it knows the paper size, print resolutions etc so can produce a precisely sized bar code or whatever) the geniuses behind the specs for html/css/useragent's decided to omit that rather essential interchange.

So with html/css we have a Standard based entirely in the language of typesetting which cannot actually be used to accurately set type or layout a document on the printed page.

These days most devs have replaced the (actually staggeringly good) print capabilities of Flash with server-side PDF creation (if size matters you can take a punt on paper size by region) - but I guess the cost of this (in resources terms) compared to getting the client (Flash/iOS) to handle the printing is very expensive for FedEx - probably millions, certainly 100Ks.

[DNTP]

I'm not giving a five dollar discount on anything

But the first person to reply to this comment promising NOT to install flash on a computer will get at least one upvote.

[Steve Davies 3]

Re: I'm not giving a five dollar discount on anything

I didn't install Flash on my 2015 MBP when I bought it in 2015. It still has not got flash and never will.

Does that count?

[DNTP]

Re: Dos that count

Yes

[Version 1.0]

No Flash here

I've eradicated it from all office systems and my systems at home. I really wish that the rest of the web would jump on the bandwagon - there are some sites like Jacquie Lawson e-cards that I really love that still use Flash.

As a result I've had to cancel my subscription which is a shame.

[Shadow Systems]

@Version 1.0, re: No Flash here

Voting with your wallet *and telling them why you won't purchase from them due to the inclusion of Flash* is the only way we common folk can get the point across.

"I was in the market to buy several thousand cards & had considered doing business with you, but then I saw you require Adobe Flash which is a product so insecure it makes me doubt your ability to secure my financial data either, so I decided to take my business to someone whom proved more competent."

Things like ^THAT^ hit them right where it hurts most & tells them why they lost your business.

Keep hitting them where it hurts until they change their ways.

[Steve the Cynic]

Well, that's a first...

I broke out my iPad and went to fedex.com. It asked me to pick a location, that is, a country, so I told it the truth: France.

OK, it then came up in French, which is reasonable enough. At the top, there's a round French flag and "Français" -> tapped that and got a dropdown: "English". Tap. The page reloaded, showing English-language information for Fedex France.

So they get points for not confusing "my location" and "my preferred language", but not nearly enough to offset "we require Flash".

[creepy gecko]

FedEx Office Print

Must make a note of that on my "Avoid This Shit At All Costs" list.

A $5 bribe? It's nowhere near enough.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: FedEx Office Print

Make it $5000 and I would consider it (and never use that computer for anything else)

[Anonymous Coward]

I may do it....

...allow, claim $5, block. allow, claim $5, block...allow, claim 5$......

C'mon, if they need to bribe you $5 to use obsolete software, I doubt they will configured it well enough to block this.

[Vector]

Re: I may do it....

Do you really need to print that much? 'Cause they ain't givin' ya 5 bucks, they're giving you a credit you can use at checkout...

[Anonymous Coward]

needed bug fixes

I love this statement --- "The good is that the link goes to the latest version of Flash, which includes years' worth of bug fixes. The bad is that Flash has needed bug fixes for years and a steady drip of newly-detected problems means there's no guarantee the software's woes have ended." --- as if Windows and every other piece of software out there hasn't been receiving bug fixes for years?

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: needed bug fixes

Easy fella Flash is enough cancer for one article.