The Battle is On! Or is it? HTML5 vs Adobe Flash

Adobe Flash is a single browser plug-in and multimedia platform popular for adding animation and interactivity to web pages. Per Adobe statistics, Flash is on almost every computer worldwide with 98 percent penetration given provides consistency in appearance from one computer to the next. However, a collection of new technologies, including HTML5, is proving more and more they can reproduce some of what Flash offers.  Bruce Lawson, Opera Software web evangelist, believes Flash will be replaced and the newer technologies as a collective are "very close" in ability.


What I find interesting is as of June 2010, HTML5 has been in the Working Draft stage for 18 months and folks expect it to stay there at least another year.  Ian Hickson, editor of the HTML5 specification, expects HTML5 to reach the Candidate Recommendation stage during 2012.  This mean web developers won't be able to start providing feedback on how to make HTML5 actually work for another two years.
Here's some background to give you a better idea of what this all means.  From conception to completion, all versions of HTML5 have to go through a distinct set of stages:

Stages in HTML development 

• Working Draft: After a private group of W3C members develops the standard, it becomes a Working Draft.  Standards can remain at Working Draft stage for literally years until some form of general consensus is achieved about how it should look.

• Candidate Recommendation: The focus at this stage is on feedback from developers about how practical or implementable the standard is.  Most significant features are locked, but the design of those features as well as minor aspects, such as syntax, may still change.  Although Candidate Recommendation stage does not typically last as long as Working Draft stage, it can still extend past a year.

• Proposed Recommendation: The standard is submitted to the W3C Advisory Council for final approval.  It is very rare to see any significant changes at this stage, which can last a few months to a year.  

• W3C Recommendation: The standard is now endorsed by the W3C and is safe to use.

Given the number of YEARS it will take to get through these stages, I apt to agree with Brandt Dainow's statement: "HTML5 is a great idea, but it's still just an idea. It's not a standard, it's not finished, and - in my opinion - using it now is just plain stupid."  Even so, it's probably wiser to take a deep breath and accept the bigger truth that both technologies will prevail and neither will conquer the other any time soon. 

UNIQLO’s Lucky Switch digital campaign from Holiday 2009.

Absolutely awesome use of digital advertising leveraging the power of social media.

UNIQLO LUCKY SWITCH from HN on Vimeo.

How the Smartphone Evolved by HTC

Quietly I'm becoming a HTC fan...

Google Wave and Marketing

This morning I came across this question by Darya B. on LinkedIn.com:
"Has anyone thought of any ways that Google Wave could be used for marketing and similar business purposes? Thanks"

My response:
Google Wave is a great tool for project management. Use it during every meeting to document meeting notes, brainstorming ideas, take-aways, and next steps. Use it to share and track file drafts and associated changes.

When a new person is added to the team or Wave they can use the playback feature to get up to speed on all that has been discussed and done to date. There is less feeling out of the loop, or waiting to meet with someone before you can start. Google Wave allows the delivery large files to a client and tracks client edits more easily compared to regular email.

The biggest con is the current exclusivity of Google Wave invites; however, this will change once Google Wave moves out of Beta.

Before reading this question, I hadn't thought about how to use Google Wave for marketing. Off the top of my head, I think Google Wave could be used similarly to how podcasts, blogs, YouTube videos, and Wikis provide information to the end user.

In what ways do you use Google Wave? In what ways do you want to use it?

I'm A Fan? Are you?

I am TOTALLY diggin': We're All Fans. It's a user (fan) content generated website promoting the GRAMMY Awards . Content comes from the web as well as fan submitted photos, tweets, videos, etc.

This campaign is a great example of how traditional media channels can be complemented by strong social media strategies.

We're All Fans combined with the GRAMMY Nomination TV Special (aired Dec. 2, 2009), Facebook, Twitter, print ads and more will encourage interaction with the intended audience and build anticipation that will hopefully translate into increased viewership on January 31, 2010.

Smokin' Innovation

One of the great things about having a part-time job as a Google Quality Rater is that it exposes me to topics, sites, information and products I otherwise would not know existed. One such product is NJOY.

Stop laughing, blushing or whatever you may be doing right now. I'm not not talking about the sex toys njoy. I'm talking about NJOY - the electronic cigarette / cigar, which debuted at the 2008 International CES show last week in Las Vegas.

SIDEBAR: I am NOT a smoker so keep in mind that some of my comments are definitely in line with the anti-smoking regime.

The biggest benefit of NJOY is it's healthier than smoking (no carcinogens), which means no cancerous side effects. Other joys is that no lingering odor in clothes & hair, no smoke only a visual vapor and nothing flammable only a LCD light that glows red with each puff.

The negatives are currently limited to the visual vapor that has the scent of smoke and the rumor of TSA approving the device for airline use. If there is a scent, I don't want to be trapped with it for hours on end even if it isn't harmful to my health.

Now for the fun part: Can you imagine what the tobacco companies are planning to do to squash this new innovation? Will it be a cat fight, a stealth low blow, or a sparring of words and intellect? They're probably pow-wowing now to create a "just in case this blows up into something big" strategy. For now, they will simply wait and see how their most loyal smokers respond to NJOY - IF they even heard of it.

See it in action: