Brandon Wang

HTML5 & Flash: This is innovation at its best

If you’ve had the opportunity to follow the debates on Flash vs. HTML5 (Canvas, etc), you might agree with me on how incredibly articulated the arguments are. People speak out on everything – whether Flash should be preserved, whether Canvas should rule – and I’m very happy about it.

Innovation at its best is discussion. Discussion on how to make it better, discussion on how to improve it, discussions in general tend to be a good thing. It means that people are talking, and most of the time, when people talk, problems get solved.

As a by-stander, it’s very hard to argue about the argument, because it’s going to be better in the long run – the web is going to be better. How we come about achieving that “better”, however, is a different story. Both involve standardizing something, whether it’s Flash or Canvas – HTML5 just happens to be built into the browser.

As a web designer, I lean towards Canvas in that it isn’t conformed to a vendor. I don’t like how Apple conducts its closed platforms, like it’s the supreme ruler of apps. On the other hand, it is their device, and it does maintain quality assurance. Apple’s watching eye does go a little too far sometimes.

The result of Apple’s watchful eye is that people actively search for alternatives. Apple denies Flash, and as a result, even more people begin supporting Canvas. Because other than arguing at how mean Apple is, the truth is that the end user doesn’t care. Unless it’s about something they regularly use that they suddenly have no access to (eg. Google Voice), they don’t care.

As web developers, we do care though. It matters in the end for us, whether technology is easy for us to use or not. It affects users too. We’re all a part of this. I don’t care how it ends up – it’s innovation. Eventually everything will work itself out.

A message: I’ve been taking a hiatus from blogging and other activities as I try to get some stuff sorted out. I’ll be back on track in a few weeks. Sorry about that.

No expletives, inappropriate or off-topic comments.
Free speech is important, but your comments are subject to moderation.