HTML5 – replacement of Adobe Flash?

This article is written because I have got this message/question from two different people, one of them is one of our clients.

There is a confusion about HTML 5 and “animation and animation interactivity” with/without Adobe Flash. The HTML 5 standard is heavy using JavaScript and is recommending “open source” video players for example but, any coder/programmer can build just now “animation interactivity” using the actual HTML standard. A very good start is jQuery, ScriptAculo.us, Prototype etc.

HTML 5 is the new HTML standard which will be finally implemented in a real world in a couple of years (may be faster). The HTML standard is unchanged since 1994 (when img tag was inserted)

Microsoft did not yet announce his support to the new HTML standard (at the time this article is written).

The main targets of HTM 5 are:

to unify the way a web document is presented on the Web
to allow robots (search engines and not only) to find fist relevant information going directly to the relevant sections.
allow faster coding (menus, grid lists etc)
make all proprietary’s software like Adobe Flash, Microsoft Media or Apple Quick Time to be implemented into web pages the same manner (using video tag)
allow internet user to have a really new web experience

The answer to the initial question “will HTML 5 replace Adobe Flash?” is “NO” at this point of time.

The HTML 5 is not a replacement of and proprietary player owned by Adobe, Microsoft, Apple or open source ones. The HTML 5 is heavy relaying on JavaScript and all JavaScript frameworks but it will take years until a new unique standard about video and animation will be in place. All it is about money. Personal opinion: having a unique service provider (of player) will be really bad for consumers.

Even if HTML 5 standard is not fully implemented and is not supported by all major browsers, any coder can use all the HTML 5 goodies. If a browser will not understand the new tags used by browser, then them will just ignored them. If the browser will understand the new tags then the website build will allow user to have new web experience and hopefully very soon that website will get a better racking from SEO perspective.

At this point I have no idea if Google or other major search engine has or has not implemented into their core/robots something to allow all websites HTML 5 compatible to take advantages against the others.

Anyway, about Apple supporting Adobe Flash on iPad and iPhone it is clear that Apple has an issue which makes many of us unhappy. The memory on these devices is just not enough to run Adobe Flash app. This is just my very personal assumption base on experience. Blackberry device and a couple of other phones have the same issue. Even Firefox on Windows Vista had a couple of big issues not long time ago (FF crashed trying to run an Adobe Flash plug-in). As long as the iPhone was not able to run Flash, it was ok because no phone is able to do it but when iPad was launched on the market the Apple got a real problem.

In a couple of years Adobe Flash may change something in his player core, jQuery may run properly in all browsers, Google may consider new tags and/or may be able to search into Adobe files (.swf). New technologies are already here; “3D” technology is already on the market and in “many houses” already.

All is changing very fast and the best choice for a business who has a website is to choose properly his public target and to ask the developer company / freelancer to build the website according with its own needs.

If that website must target everybody then the option is one only: to have two websites with different layouts and engine, both of them feed with (more or less) the same content.