YouTube: Why the Flash era isn't over

From CNET News.com: Google is among the biggest proponents of a collection of Web technologies that reproduce many important features of Adobe Systems' Flash, but it's not yet time for regime change at YouTube.

One of the most important parts of the upcoming HTML5 standard is support for video that can be built directly into Web page without requiring a plug-in such as Flash Player. Other open standards such as Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) for formatting, Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG), and Web Open Font Format (WOFF) for typography can mimic Flash features, but Flash's ability to deliver streaming video to multiple browsers is one of the main reasons it's got such a strong incumbent advantage.

"While HTML5's video support enables us to bring most of the content and features of YouTube to computers and other devices that don't support Flash Player, it does not yet meet all of our needs," said YouTube programmer John Harding in a blog post Tuesday. "Today, Adobe Flash provides the best platform for YouTube's video distribution requirements, which is why our primary video player is built with it."

Google started showing some YouTube videos with HTML5 in January, but the program is still experimental.

Adobe is working hard to keep Flash relevant despite the threat from Web technologies and Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs' disparaging words about Flash. It just began a major push to spread Flash Player to mobile devices, where it's virtually unknown, and Google's Android is the first operating system to be supported.

It's clear there's a tight alliance between Adobe and Google to back Flash, no doubt in part to try to paint Apple's ban of Flash from iPhones to look like a misstep that's bad for users and Web developers.

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