The great big HTML5 debate…
With HTML5 big news in the trade right now, we’ve decided to kick off a bit of a debate to coincide with our forthcoming issue. So we asked a bunch of developers for their thoughts on whether the new specification can become the next-gen standard everyone is hyping it up to be. First up is KMP Digitata’s Rich Clark, but we’d like his words to be a catalyst for your own comments – so be sure to have your say below!
Name: Rich Clark
Head of Interactive, KMP Digitata
URL: http://richclarkdesign.com
“If we’re talking about the buzzword ‘HTML5′ which I’d class as ‘HTML5 & related technologies’ or ‘open web standards’ then the answer is resolutely yes. But perhaps not for a good few years. Some of the perceived decline in Flash is down to Apple’s stern refusal to implement it for iPhone or iPad but also down to clients being more savvy with regard to accessibility and SEO. The web is now a fundamental part of our daily lives and therefore we need open, accessible standards, not proprietary technology that requires plug-ins.
Having said that, Flash’s penetration on the desktop is going to keep it around for a while. For example, IE9 is going to implement HTML5 <video> but as developers we’re still offering some level of support for IE6, a browser that is 10 years old meaning that we’re going to keep falling back to Flash in order to keep supporting IE6, 7 & 8 for a while longer. Other advantages that Flash has over HTML5 is how it’s so easy to access devices like a webcam or microphone. Yes, HTML5 has the <device> element but it’s a long way from being implemented cross browser. Flash developers shouldn’t think that there skills are wasted though, a lot of ActionScript code can be ported to JavaScript without much difficulty, allowing them to experiment with HTML5 <canvas>. In theory (and I’m sure it’s in the works) Adobe could clean up by creating a great authoring tool (like Flash) for canvas, SVG and other open standards.
Conversely, the beauty of open standards is the shallow learning curve and all you need to get started is a text editor and a browser. Add some of the exciting HTML5 API’s to the mix and HTML5 can deliver rich interactive experiences across a range of devices. With browser vendors now working together to develop standards, issues with interoperability are on a downturn. There’s no reason for you not to start using it now, in the long term open standards will win out over Flash”
You can get more info on HTML5 and more opinions from the industry in our next big cover feature within issue 173, which is available on sale July 29th…
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web standards are extremely important
What would be the future of Adobe AIR?
The advantage of flash over anything else, developer does not have to deal with cross browser issue.
HTML 5 is a giant leap forward, its designed to be a much more search engine friendly standard with additional tags to help semantics. This will in turn mean more relevant search results. The canvas element will be good in time but I think this will take longer to come to fruition.
I’m really glad to finally see a mention on the Flash vs HTML 5 that addresses the fact that Flash is much more than just animation and video players.
In my experience, the HTML 5 is much slower to start and jerky at the caching stage. Hardware streaming, obviously, doesn’t count.
But regardless, HTML 5 is far away from actually providing a ‘rich multi-media experience.” Skewing graphics, simple movement and layering files, even when updated, does not constitute an ‘interactive experience’ such as http://perrierbydita.com/ or any nike sub-site for example.
Everything has its place and for those who have limited experience in more dynamic movement, HTML5 will be easier to get up to speed in than actionscript, but in all the talks, the elephant in the room that’s ignored is Jquery as the real dent in Flash-only sites.
HTML 5 and CSS 3 websites are a nice idea but until all browsers are able to support them and the old IE browsers that dont support anything are gone we will all have to keep creating websites that are visually please for the browsers that cant handle the new tech upgrades.
@steam multimedia, you can use HTML5 and CSS3 today. HTML5 is easy to get working cross browser and CSS3, if a percentage of your users don’t see a slightly rounded corner, a subtle shadow or a colour fading in – does it ruin they’re experience?
I think web standards are also very important, I do think though that there is some valid uses for flash. The functionality of being able to access the computers hardware is still a big area for HTML 5 to tackle. This will be interesting to see how it progresses..
Good read, enjoying the comments as well..