Google Reader Adds HTML5 Support
Google Reader has released a slew of new updates today, the most prominent being support for HTML5-powered videos and audio. — As HTML5 gains steam, partially due to Apple's war against Adobe Flash, more and more websites are switching to HTML5 interfaces …
Context & Ripple Effects
HTML5's multimedia push has been building for two years: Microsoft's own IE program manager endorsed the HTML5 video and audio tags back in September 2009, and Google followed with an in-browser Quake demo in April 2010 to show the standard could handle demanding applications. What was missing were mainstream consumer products shipping HTML5 by default.
That is what changed today: Google Reader, one of Google's highest-traffic consumer properties, now plays HTML5-powered video and audio natively. The timing tracks with Apple's public campaign against Adobe Flash around the iPad launch — every major site that ditches the plugin makes its content playable on iPhones and iPads, and Google putting its weight behind the standard removes the last excuse that 'no big site uses it yet.'
First-order effects
- Publishers whose content flows through Google Reader can now embed HTML5 audio and video that renders inside feeds without Flash, making their media playable on Apple's plugin-free iPhone and iPad.
Second-order effects
- Adobe faces mounting pressure as high-traffic Google properties adopt the standard its rival champions; competing feed readers and webmail services will be pushed to match HTML5 support or look dated next to Reader.
Third-order effects
- If Google keeps converting flagship products from plugins to open standards, the web splits into a Flash-legacy layer and an HTML5-native layer, and browser competition shifts from JavaScript speed to completeness of HTML5 multimedia support.
The trend: Web applications are migrating from proprietary plugins like Adobe Flash toward HTML5 native multimedia, with Apple's anti-Flash stance accelerating adoption across major consumer platforms.