The iPad doesn\u2019t run Flash. If your website uses Flash, it won\u2019t play well on the iPad. Turns out, a lot of people want their sites to look pretty on the iPad. So the internet\u2019s already starting to look different.<\/p>\n
One of the more interesting effects of the iPhone was that it drove a ton of websites to format their content for the phone in at least of two ways, and often both: iPhone-optimized sites, with more finger-friendly navigational elements that look almost app-like, and actual iPhone apps. We\u2019re seeing a repeat with the iPad, though the adjustment appears to be less about the screen size than its lack of Flash support, and there\u2019s the fact a lot of sites will be ready on day one. (Though before we go any further, let\u2019s be clear: Flash is sticking around, for many reasons, regardless of Apple\u2019s opinion of it.)<\/p>\n
The NYT, WSJ and NPR are all following the twin attack: They\u2019re launching iPad-tuned homepages that dispense with Flash entirely, with layouts designed to be held in your hand, like the front page of a newspaper, and they\u2019re coming out with iPad apps. The WSJ app will run $17.99 a month\u2014$215 a year\u2014a seemingly ridiculous sum, since subscribing to both the print and online editions is a mere $140. We don\u2019t know what it looks like. Interestingly, while we\u2019ve seen the most of NYT\u2019s iPad app out of anyone (presumably), we don\u2019t know how much it\u2019s going to cost. NPR\u2019s app is a free iPadded version of its iPhone app. (BTW, for the a broader take, check out Valleywag\u2019s screed on how Apple\u2019s trying to control news.)<\/p>\n
There\u2019s also the video services, which are, in a way, basic internet infrastructure. YouTube, of course, has been playing with HTML5 for a bit, as has Vimeo, and both have served up iPhone OS-tailored video for a while. Brightcove, another big video service, used a by lot of magazine sites (Wired, Slate, Time and NYT), is is making its HTML5 powers more widely known, with the \u201cBrightcove Experience for HTML5,\u201d specifically in response to the iPad, with the NYT and Time listed as customers using Brightcove HTML5 edition, meaning they\u2019ll have iPad-ready video at the get-go.<\/p>\n
Not to mention sites like TED now offering Flashless renditions for iPhone OS devices. And CBS, the only major network not to be on the Hulu boat, is cleverly testing an HTML5 version of its video site, so even though Hulu won\u2019t work on the iPad right now, CBS will be. (I imagine it won\u2019t be very long at all before we do see Hulu though.)<\/p>\n
It\u2019s interesting, to say the least, that a device promising to be the best browsing experience\u2014cue Scott Forestall crazy eyes\u2014 is in fact reshaping the internet. You could argue it\u2019s for the better, moving sites away from proprietary formats and heavy, resource-sucking designs to more open standards, and more efficient layouts that are easier to use (as many have, convincingly). And it\u2019s not like Apple hasn\u2019t been remaking the web already \u2014 they\u2019ve been hugely involved in web standards with their work on the WebKit rendering engine, which powers Safari, Chrome, and most every decent mobile browser around. In fact, you could argue, vis-a-vis WebKit Apple\u2019s essentially defined the standards for mobile browsing.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s not much of a choice for site designers to follow this, either. As John Gruber points out, if you care about people on iPhone OS devices\u2014to be clear, that includes the iPad\u2014being able to use your site, you\u2019re going to redesign it, and \u201cif you don\u2019t think people using iPhone OS devices are an important segment of your intended audience, you\u2019re probably wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n
The reason the iPad could have a more pronounced effect on the internet than the iPhone actually really is simply because it\u2019s bigger. The challenge of best displaying your content on the iPhone wasn\u2019t simply making sure you had a Flash-less site \u2014 it was fitting it all into a 3.5-inch screen, reducing it to the utter essentials to fit the way people use their phones, a task that might\u2019ve gone beyond a mobile-optimized site in many cases. With the iPad, two of the biggest restrictions \u2014 the tighter screen, those smaller windows of time \u2014 aren\u2019t there, so content producers very well might not need an app to fit their content onto the iPad. In other words, they really can just build a site instead of an app, which is why the iPad might have a more profound effect on the internet than the iPhone.<\/p>\n
Especially if Apple manages to sell a bajigagillion of them. But hey, we\u2019ll see! In the meantime, there sure are lots of Flashless, HTML5 sites popping up, and we\u2019re bound to hear about more.<\/p>\n
Resource<\/b>:
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