Q. HTML 5: Could it kill Flash and Silverlight? A. Yes and IE too!
Continuing the discussion - HTML 5: Could it kill Flash and Silverlight?, via http://blog.skitsanos.com/2009/06/html-5-could-it-kill-flash-and.html
HTML 5 won't only kill Flash or Silverlight but it could also kill IE's dominance in the browser market altogether and well ahead of the projected timeline if it continues to treat customers, developers, and more importantly web standards in general with indifference. As browser vendors such as Mozilla, Apple, Opera and Google continue to implement HTML 5 features seemingly quicker than WHATWG can make a recommendation for it, it clearly shows peoples desire for a more dynamic web experience. After all it's been well over a decade since the original HTML and we are still used to websites being mostly static pages. Flash and Silverlight have several problems that new features of HTML 5 effectively solve. I won't get into the details here as they have been endlessly debated over the internet for the last year, you can Google it if you like but many will argue that Flash and Silverlight work just as well. Frankly most suggestions are complicated work-arounds and at the end of the day it's just not as simple or as integrated as doing it directly in HTML 5. As these new experiences blossom on the web and word of mouth spreads (as Mozilla and the developer community have proven work so effectively) people will start asking why they can't do that on their IE browser. I get the sense there is a genuine ground swell of support for HTML 5 with more sophisticated demo's being produced on a nearly daily basis and eager developers who are looking to experience that excitement and passion they once felt for the web when they first started in the industry and when it wasn't "just a job". I've been tracking development of HTML 5 via the WHATWG mailing list for sometime and if you want a say in the furture of HTML 5 or just want to keep abreast of developments I strongly suggest you join their mailing list. While I agree HTML 5 is definitely a step in the right direction I also believe it should not be overshadowing the efforts of XHTML 2 which is a another blog topic entirely. However the future of the web is indeed a bright one but it could also, as many have been predicting, be one without a dominant Microsoft.
