Sticking with Flash
Out of context: Reply #46
- Started
- Last post
- 87 Responses
- ukit0
I don't know what the confusion is over, did someone say, "HTML5 can do every single thing Flash does right now, and you must never use Flash again?"
I hear people talking about this like they expecting HTML5 to arrive on their doorstep in a box with a logo shooting flames, insert a CD-ROM and install it like Adobe CS5. Then press a button and recreate the Ecozoo site in HTML5. Absent that, the whole thing is a scam and Steve Jobs is a lying evil bastard.
Whereas in reality it's simply a specification that will be hashed out over the course of the next couple years and implemented by browsers as a step by step, constantly updating process. Browser implementation is gonna be a messy process of course, but browser makers are much more on the same page and working together this time than in the past where they were openly at war (although there are some exceptions like video codecs). Some uses of HTML5 will be viable now (like HTML5 video on devices like the iPad), some will be here in months, others will take years.
In terms of HTML5 vs Flash, the reason it's a bad idea to try and compare the two is not because they don't compete, but because the Flash-competing elements are a tiny subset of what HTML5 is trying to accomplish. That would be the <canvas>, <video> and <audio> tags along with JS. And also because it will take the efforts of third party developers (like John Resig did for Javascript) to provide useful frameworks that makes these appealing to use.
When people talk about the HTML5 spec not being complete until 2012 or even 2021, they leave out the fact that those rich media capabilities are the parts of the spec that are pretty much complete. The parts that are still being worked on are things that people probably aren't even thinking about when they talk about this like microdata, web storage and offline applications.
if you look at the WHATWG wiki they say:
"When will we be able to start using these new features?
You can use some of them now...Different parts of the specification are at different maturity levels. Some sections are already relatively stable and there are implementations that are already quite close to completion, and those features can be used today (e.g. <canvas>)."
The element that is lagging in terms those being ready for real world use is not the spec but browser support. But that's just a process that takes a little time to implement once the spec is ready.
So with something like <canvas>, that implementation process in terms of the final aspects began last year, and you already have fairly good support in all non-IE browsers for the basics of it. IE is the major thing holding all of this back, but you've already seen successful efforts to bridge the gap by taking advantage of IE's support for VML. And some cross-browser, real-world applications of HTML5 <canvas> have already been created thanks to the successful browser support combined with the IE approach, including some that many of you have probably already used, like Cufon for font rendering.