Apple’s Freedom From Flash with HTML5

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With the release of the iPad, a lot of people are again talking about the iPhone OS and it’s lack of Flash support. I agree that it can be irritating when I stumble across the infrequent Flash application that is a website, and not just part of one, but I keep wondering if this lack of support isn’t actually a good thing. Having installed ClickToFlash on all of my computers, I have noticed a pattern: almost all of the Flash I see I only really see it in two conditions – advertisements that want to take over my screen or embedded video. I really can live without the giant ads, but the video is important, as more and more online content is video.

The good news is the progress being put into making web-based video players into HTML5 ‘applications’ that show H.264 video streams. These play back smoothly on my computers, and I don’t suffer from the inevitable crashes that Flash brought to my browser. I’m not suggesting that Flash caused me issues every day, but before I was using ClickToFlash, Safari was crashing at least two or three times a week. Now I force quit Safari once every other month, maybe, and that is the good thing I mentioned earlier. The more video that moves over from Flash to HTML5, the happier I am.

Also, considering the impact that Flash has on the stability of my browser, I’m not surprised that Apple is showing signs of moving away from it. A lot of the rich media and site navigation that Flash empowered can be done in HTML5 and JavaScript, which modern browsers support, and drive more advanced interfaces like Google Reader. Apple is moving this direction, as HTML5 is an open standard that Apple has a voice in developing and implementing. Flash is a closed platform that Adobe writes and maintains, and until very recently, hasn’t performed nearly as well on the Mac as it does on Windows. The emphasis on HTML5 is really an emphasis on freedom for Apple and they way they want to steer the platform. Considering how many headaches Flash have given me, I’m not in the least dissapointed.

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