YouTube and Vimeo add H.264 and HTML5
We’ve known that YouTube had added H.264 support quite some time ago. Recently, YouTube and Vimeo both announced support of HTML5 with H.264. The video looks great.
What does this mean?
On the obvious level, this is a move to support for HTML5, which has embedded video options built in.
However, there is a much bigger picture. On Wednesday, Apple is set to announce a major new product. According to numerous sources, it is going to run a supercharged version of the iPhone OS. It also is unlikely to run Flash, similar to the iPhone.
As more browsers and mobile devices support HTML5, the less Flash will be needed to play video. And video will be a major element of Apple’s new device, as it already is for the iPhone, Android, and many other mobile devices.
This is another reason why we encode all video for our site in H.264. For now, it is played through a Flash wrapper, but the video itself is encoded in Quicktime. This allows our videos to be viewable on desktops or iPhones. It also means we’re ready to roll from day one when the Apple Canvas (or iSlate, or iTablet) is released.
Does this mean Flash is on its way out? I don’t think so. It will be around for years to come.
It does mean that Flash will become less important for video playback as more people access the web on iPhones and tablet devices.
25 Jan 2010 UPDATE:
John Gruber posted an excellent post this morning covering this exact topic:
http://daringfireball.net/2010/01/apple_adobe_flash
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