There is a lot of hoopla going around the announcement of the
Apple iPad. I admit that I've been hooked as well, and the complaints that it's nothing more than a "giant iPod touch" suit me just fine. That's not a complaint in my book, that's a benefit. But all swooning aside, I am wondering how the iPad will affect my work as a designer. If you had asked me last December what I thought was going to change in 2010, I would have said that
Flash was going to get a lot bigger as more sites started using it for games and features. But then the iPad came out and Apple is beginning to make it fairly clear that Adobe Flash is not going to be present on their devices. It's not available on the iPhone or iPod touch, and it apparently won't be on the iPad either. Apple is instead focusing on
HTML5 as a way to deliver video an other content that Flash delivers a lot of now. Is this going to change how you build your websites? Are you going to focus more on HTML5 and less on Flash now that the iPad may be a game changer? I know it really depends upon the device itself, but what do you think right now?
IPad image Courtesy of Apple.
We are going to start adopting HTML5 eventually (maybe on our company website), but we will always avoid… flash at all costs.
I imagine there will be a whole lot of other pads on the market soon which will support flash so I think I’ll wait for them.
Right now, I think that iPad will not represent all web market, all web users. Apple could focus and on Flash, since is on market about some years. Also, W3C says Implementors should be aware that this specification is not stable. But, yes, and I am waiting for the release of HTML5. HTML5 will not replace Flash, however, it will give some applications of it.
HTML5 looks promising, but to implement a technology thats not even finalized yet as a replacement to one thats already widely used, would be just as foolish as developing a website for a general audience and not taking Internet Explorer into consideration. I love to stay on top of new technology, but you always have to consider your audience, and accessibility.
I’m already using HTML5, and I’m not using Flash all the time, so I guess I’m all wrapped up here.
Aside from having a flash blocker installed, I don’t see a problem in Flash, if used correctly.
About this device, I suppose it will live and die in its own timespan.
I think the coming of the iPad should focus all our minds on focusing more on HTML and other open technologies.