HTML5 takes the internet by storm

[TimberWolf]

If you'd been paying attention in the mid-90s you'll know that by now Java will have long since rendered all issues over platforms redundant, as everything will run in the browser (in a plugin) in a totally platform independent and secure way.

Windows 8 will support HTML5 "apps" too; not quite sure how that works, I guess it's just a different way of packaging the HTML and JS files.

The story about HTML5 is not that it's great and does all these lovely things. The story about HTML5 is that the open source/standards/web community is finally doing the sort of stuff they should have been doing 15 years ago. This is not a triumph; it's an embaressment.

It's been a while since I read up about HTML5, but I don't think those issues have gone away or been solved just yet.

[Sysman]

According to the BBC

BBC News - Coding the future: HTML5 takes the internet by storm

Put simply it means that there's now much less chance that customers visiting a website will come across a black hole in the middle of the page, or get endless prompts to "download a plug-in" which may take several minutes to install.

By then it is often too late. The consumer has already clicked on a competitor's website.

Sysman's prediction:

"Once HTML5 is used everywhere, customers visiting a website will come across an endless barrage of unwanted adverts, sound and video which may take several minutes to download and play before they can see the site's real content.

By then it is often too late. The consumer has already clicked on a competitor's website."

Have to larf:

People will know what ingredients they have in their refrigerator and keep track of it using an HTML5 app on the screen

Aaron Gustafson Author

Not that old chestnut again.

[AtW]

I still use TABLEs in my HTML...

[Sysman]

I'm sure there are cases where you must do a package and install, but I'm not sure I agree that this is the 'general' case. Perhaps you have more complex stuff in mind. An 'install' need only consist of storing an HTML file containing HTML and Javascript, with no need to point to a URL.

Exactly. I have somewhere got a bunch of documentation which is stashed as HTML / Javascript and it works perfectly well offline.

[TimberWolf]

Exactly. I have somewhere got a bunch of documentation which is stashed as HTML / Javascript and it works perfectly well offline.

Well I suppose if one needs separate files in addition to the web app, for holding images , data or whatnot, you might need to "install" a whole folder rather than just a file?

Or if a folder is too complicated, an HTML manifest will cache stuff:
6.7 Offline Web applications

[TimberWolf]

I still use TABLEs in my HTML...

Have you got anything sensible to contribute

[OwlHoot]

Bye-Bye Flash?

Yippee - Another skill I've been meaning to get up to speed on and practice, but can now forget about.

Like Silverlake or whatever it's called, or is that .Net? (I should know - It's on my CV )

[Sysman]

Yippee - Another skill I've been meaning to get up to speed on and practice, but can now forget about.

Like Silverlake or whatever it's called, or is that .Net? (I should know - It's on my CV )

You mean Silverlight?

I've seen it offered as an optional install dozens of time in Windows Update (but not recently). I think I've only found one web page outside Microsoft.com that asked me to download it, and I was surfing on a Linux system at the time so didn't bother.

[d000hg]

Silverlight is used by Netflix, which is kind of a big deal. However I don't think it's a tech I'd look at learning, it's clearly not going that way... unless you make it a niche.

[OwlHoot]

You mean Silverlight?

I've seen it offered as an optional install dozens of time in Windows Update (but not recently). I think I've only found one web page outside Microsoft.com that asked me to download it, and I was surfing on a Linux system at the time so didn't bother.

That's the one, an entirely predictable turkey

I was thinking of Adobe AIR though; but a quick search reveals that Adobe Edge is the new heir apparent (or in this case AIR apparent)

Truly it was said by the prophet "Many are called, few are chosen"