Do We Really Need Flash? July 6, 2009
Posted by cuyler in Web Development.trackback
I look forward to the day when we no longer need to add plug-ins to watch video over the web. I used to think that Adobe Flash was cool because it made the web more interactive. But the trouble is, it is a proprietary standard that depends on one company for its support. The Internet is built on free standards and should not rely on any single entity to function.
Firefox 3.5 now includes support for HTML 5 which lets surfers listen to audio or watch video without the aid of a third-party plug-in. If HTML 5 becomes widely adopted, it has the potential to eliminate the need for proprietary add-ons such as Flash or Microsoft’s Silverlight.
Unfortunately, Firefox only supports the open-source Ogg Theora codec for video. This has forced the W3C standards committee to drop requirements for specific codecs. This is a bit of a setback, but I still hope Apple, Microsoft and Oracle eventually make moves toward more open standards. Google has pledged its support, so the other may have to fall in line.
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