If you are reading this you have used the web. The times they are a changing, just 2 years ago there were almost three games in town for the “right choice” in developing your rich media website. Today two of the three biggies announced changes.

Apple has been betting on HTML5 since the iPhone came out, and there was a much publicized spat between Adobe and Apple over this decision.  This led to Google with android rushing to fill the market void of a flash compatible handsets for all our mobile needs.  Android tablets and handsets with flash were launched, and for quite some time the HTML5 based iphone/ipad duo were touted as doomed for their lack of flash abilities.

The flash device manufacturers were constantly thwarted despite their best efforts with inconsistant or poor performance. In my opinion it was a matter of using a desktop & mouse oriented legacy system (flash) on a touch platform with too little resources to make it all go zooom.  So the experience although it worked was usually not as good as the now available HTML5 versions being made by many media outlets.  The standards group that has been pushing HTML5 did so to the benefit of all our browsers, no more would we need to download something to watch media, it would just work.  One less thing to go wrong or need to be updated because it was out of date.

Silverlight came out and sidestepped some of the issues that plagued flash but still did not remedy the need to install a new component into the browser to view the new material.  Any additional components we install into our browsers add an additional layer of risk from a security aspect that may provide a hacker an entry into your machine.  With multiple vendors there are multiple fingers pointing at whose to blame or patch the holes found and in todays world that is a bad thing.

So today I read two of the three choices announced changes, Adobe the makers of flash and Microsoft the makers of silverlight have announced either a change of direction, or insinuated an end of life situation for these former huge platforms.  Not that they’re usefulness is over as of today, just that their future no longer seems to be in the primarily mobile arena.  Which is the fastest growing segment of how users are getting information about many companies and products.  That is why this matters potentially to you and I, as I am frequently asked “what should we use to develop our new website?”.

If you are looking to develop a website for your company, church or club, take a moment to find a developer who is well versed in the latest standards. You may find flash or silverlight is still your best bet for your new site, but I would be surprised if they don’t also insist on or offer you an HTML5 based version.  If they do, is it worth the added $ to make two sites?  This very reason is why going with standards such as HTML5 over specialized plug-ins like Flash or Silverlight makes sense.

And if your looking to develop your personal skills in the web area, focus your development training around HTML5, at least until the next big thing arrives. To see Forbes take on the flash situation click here. I have snatched an excerpt from another news site with a link below it for the silverlight info.

From ZDNet

Several of my customer and partner contacts have told me they have heard from their own Microsoft sources over the past couple of weeks that Silverlight 5 is the last version of Silverlight that Microsoft will release. They said they are unsure whether there will be any service packs for it, and they are also not clear on how long Silverlight 5 will be supported by Microsoft.

via Will there be a Silverlight 6 and does it matter? | ZDNet.

One more thing, choose a modern browser to surf the web.  Older browsers have holes that could allow your information to be leaked or your machine accessed unless you diligently keep them up to date.  I myself use Chrome from Google, though both Firefox 8, and Safari 5 are good choices.  Internet Explorer 9 would be my last choice but I have baggage from the browser wars and IE9 seems to be a solid browser if you aren’t keen on the other 3.  In all cases keep them up to date, your whole computer for that matter, a little preventive measure on your part can save you a lot of heartache later.