The Future of Internet Lies in HTML5!

While many consumers are confounded by the loss of flash capabilities on their new android devices, Adobe have reasons for stopping further support on mobile devices. We spoke with Paul Burnett (APAC Evangelist, Adobe) to find why, and what the future of the internet holds.....

Q: Has Adobe been contributing to the progress with HTML5?

Burnett: Adobe has been doing a lot of work with the W3C and Webkit to help progress the specifications of HTML5. Apart from releasing a bunch of tools for use with HTML5, we’ve built two technologies for CSS called CSS exclusions and regions. We’ve given them over to W3C for the future specification of CSS 3. The new CSS technologies will work very well with HTML5 support, that is already present on many of modern browsers such as Chrome and Firefox.

Q: Will the CSS developments need ratification by W3C before deployment?

Burnett: We’ve got our own people in the committee for shaders and custom CSS filters, who are working to get the specifications done. However, my iPhone is running HTML5, before it has been ratified by the W3C. Browser manufacturers are not going to wait around until the W3C ratifies HTML5 and CSS3 technologies.

Q: Why has Adobe stopped development of Flash player on mobile platforms?

Burnett: We’ve discovered that when people use Flash, they usually use Flash for something that is very interactive and engaging. This kind of content usually falls under

Q: But majority of media content online uses Flash?

Burnett: Most of the content online using Flash was made to be consumed over the desktop or notebook, not through a phone. Web administrators will update their sites and revamp Flash to HTML5, but there is no doubt it will take time. If you compare mobiles to traditional systems, they have a lot less processing power so the Flash content is not going to good anyway. We’ve given over the support of Flash to the platforms itselves, so they can continue to support the older versions if they want to.

Q: What does HTML5 bring to the table that Flash didn’t?

Burnett: It doesn’t do everything that Flash does, but it is standard-based and that makes a lot of difference. The truth is that we haven’t even scratched the surface of what it can do. With tools such as Adobe Edge Animate and Edge Reflow, we make it easy for animators and web designers to utilize new CSS rules and HTML5 easily. There will be no more hassle of installing multiple plugins to support animation and 3rd-party content. Detailed interview can be found online at http://pcquest. ciol.com/content/techtrends/2012/112122101.asp

— Srinivasan Viswanathan gaming. When consumers play games online in desktops, they tend to use Flash, but mobile phone users usually use browsers to surf more static content. They launch apps if they want to play a game. At Adobe, we took a while to recognize this trend. If you implement a game for a desktop web browser, it turns out brilliantly. However, it is quite difficult to optimize a Flash game for mobiles and so HTML5 is the best standard that will run across all your devices.