Flash vs HTML5
The battle between Flash and HTML5 has been heating up lately. There's a lot of debate not only by the people who know what goes into Flash and HTML5, but also from the general public.
You can't really surf the web without catching an argument about how Flash is bloated and overall crap and that HTML5 is the savior of the interwebs. Gizmodo, Crunchgear, and Endgadget are just a few sites that talk about the subject. However, now you have Apple going head to head with Adobe in the last few months. First when the iPhone came out, it was annoying that they didn't allow Flash on it. However, most people forgave Apple because they figured that, well, it's a cell phone and other manufacturers make the rules to govern their phones, why not Apple? Then Apple rolls out the iPad. (side note, I've played with one and I still think it's an oversized, overpriced iPod Touch.) Anyway, the iPad doesn't support Flash. Rather, Apple is trying to push their codec, H.264. They've been using it for the last few years to encode video files for the iPod Touch and iPhones. It's a good format, but hell, there's better out there. So, here's the disturbing thing; Apple's show of obstinance is actually winning them ground! You've actually got website owners willing to ditch Flash just so their site will work on that POS iPad. I find that utterly rediculous! Why should we, the web developers bow to Apple's wishes? Personally, I don't necessarily like Flash en masse. It has it's merits in certain situations, though. However, when one company is trying to bend the rules to their favor, that's when we should all stop and take stock of what's going on here. I mean, rather than everyone bowing to Apple, why not push back and say, "nope, we're not going to give in to your closed system".
Okay, I'm sorry, I can tend to rattle on and I have a few gripes with Apple lately so, I'll try to keep on course.
Anyway, like I said above, Flash has it's merits. Personally, I don't like building entire websites out of Flash. Primarily because they can't be read by search engines and therefore it's much more difficult to correctly optimize them. I think HTML5 is great and if you've seen some of the demos out there, it's really impressive. Heck, never mind the demos, take a look at YouTube. Yup. YouTube is now all HTML5. However, I don't think that HTML5 is 100% our answer to a smoother web surfing experience. Granted, I think it's a big piece of the puzzle. However, I think the responsibility lies squarely on the shoulders of web developers to stop building shitty sites and to start doing it right. They need to quit cutting corners and put in the time, hard work, and effort to make a site great using whatever technology that site requires. Too many people pigeon-hole themselves and refuse to grow beyond what they're comfortable; be it Flash, HTML, or other.
As I've said before, I'm not a huge fan of Flash. However, I'll use it if I have to. I have a client that wanted a full Flash website. So, knowing it's SEO limitations, I built a Flash landing page (my thoughts on those another time) and built the rest of the site using jQuery. The site is interactive like she wanted, but it now works well with SEO techniques. So ultimately, she really is the big winner here.
Anyway, if I can leave you with just one thought, it would be this; HTML5 is Friggin' awesome and Flash is bloated. However, in order to build a web surfing experience that is interactive, exciting, and smooth, we need to leverage all of the technologies. Moreover, it's not up to big companies to decide for us what that will look like.
The iPad is here
Photo from gdgt.com
So, today was Apple's big reveal of the iPad. The device is pretty cool. It's only a half an inch thick and weighs in at one and a half pounds. The screen is 9.7", uses a proprietary 1GHz chip, 16, 32, or 64GB flash storage. Of course it has 802.11n and Bluetooth. It comes with the standard things; accelerometer, compass, speaker, mic, and dock connector. They claim that they have been able to squeeze 10 hours out of the battery via media usage. They'll have it in two models: WiFi only and add 3G through AT&T. They have two data plans: $14.99 for up to 250MB (ya, tha'll go far), and $29.99 for unlimited data. For the international market, the device is unlocked, so it can use any wireless carrier. Lastly, the pricing: it starts at $499 for the 16GB model.
My take on it? Meh. It's a cool device, but I have no use for it. Just like I have no use for a netbook. On top of that, it looks like they took a rolling pin to the iPod Touch. I already have an iPhone and I don't need a bigger one. Thanks, Apple, but I'll be skipping this one.
So you got a new Mac for Christmas?
Good for you. Welcome to the cult. Make sure you download a few important things:
- VLC Player (This is a great open source media player. It plays DVDs, CDs, and just about any digital media format. However a good alternative to this would be to download Perian which will extend Quicktime's usefulness if you'd rather use QT.)
- Google Chrome (This is the newest kid on the block in the world of web browsers. If you've already given your life over to Google, this is a logical step. It's a very slim browser - it's probably the most basic browsing experience today.)
- Open Office (This is an excellent alternative to Microsoft Office. It's free and since it's open source, it's constantly under development. Therefore, it's constantly being improved on. If you'd rather go with Apple's option, take a look at iLife.)
- Quicksilver (This is a great application switcher. This is waaaayyy beyond [Command] + [Tab]. If you're into keyboard shortcuts, you can setup Quicksilver to do any number of things; compose an email, read your email, control iTunes, open files and programs... the list goes on. I've even setup a shortcut with an Apple script to lock my desktop to keep my kids from breaking something.)
- Onyx (Onyx is essential because it gives you the ability to change a ton of things in the root programming of OS X. For example, you don't like the default wallpaper on your user sign on page? You can change that. If you don't like the genie or suck effects when programs minimize to the dock, you can disable those animations altogether. There are loads of things you can do with this program. So, if you're comfortable with a bit of "customizing", this program is for you.)
