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Is the iPad *really* the future of the web? Some people seem to be eating up the hype, and hanging onto every statement that Apple makes, but I'm not convinced. There are a lot of features of the iPad that leave me scratching my head, but in this post I want to talk about the lack of plug-in support.
Plugins are an integral part of the web experience... Ignoring that fact could be a mistake. I'm not just talking about Flash; there are a lot more plugins out there than just Flash.
Gaming
Think about online gaming: Quake Live is it's own plugin (yes, there is a mac version too), there are those Flash and Silverlight casual games all over the web (which are quite popular on netbooks), the Unity 3D plugin games, oh, and JAVA Applet based games too... none of them will work. If this device is to take on Netbooks, it must compete in this area.
HTML5
Even if the HTML5 standard ever really becomes a standard, the development tools will are not caught up, and each application implementation will need to be tweaked for each browser variant of HTML5. There are no graphical IDEs like Flash or Blend for HTML5 to create expressive and visual applications. It will be more difficult to make content targeted to run without a player based solution.
RIA
RIAs are being built every day leveraging both Flash and Silverlight for complex solutions and data visualizations, and many of them contain features that you simply cannot do in HTML alone (even with HTML5). I don't see enterprises wanting to re-invest into the applications that they have already built, just b/c the iPad does not support them. Instead, I suspect that they will turn to another hardware solution.
This doesn't mean that I don't believe that the iPad has a future. I have no doubt that it will have an influential role in mobile computing. A lot of effort and resources went into building it, and decisions were made that we are not privy to. I simply disagree with the fact that this is the future of the web. Perhaps it is not even meant to take on netbooks, or be used in the enterprise.
Does this mean that I will never write software for the iPad? ...Absolutely not. I'm already looking into it, and it offers an interesting paradigm. Does this mean that I will never use an iPad? Nope, not that either. All I'm saying is that I'm not sure it is {the future of the web}.
These are my thoughts, and I'm sure there are many out there that may disagree. Feel free to post your thoughts in the comments below.
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Thanks for the thoughts, but you may want to have an editor look over your copy next time before you post. Numerous grammatical errors.
I too intend to write applications for the iPad, not through their SDK, but through Flash CS5. I just hope CS5 pro will be able to create any application the iPad/iPhone SDK is able to develop.
Paleta, get over it--this is a blog.
Andrew, I've always heard about people who mindlessly follow Apple. I haven't met any of them, though. Maybe they don't exist and those of us who disagree just want to caricature them rather than engage them?
IMO, the future of the Web is RIA, which includes SL, i*, other devices, probably Flash, and probably HTML 5. The nature of the Web has pretty much always been heterogeneity, despite how much pain it causes us software creators.
I'm looking forward to having an iPad and experiencing what it has to offer, even as a primary home and mobile device. But yeah, I don't see it gaining much traction in the enterprise until it is a tad more interoperability. And I haven't gotten the impression that's a goal for the iPad anyways.
@Ambrose
First, this is not a personal blog, but a"professional" blog, and as such should take care to ensure the proper use of language and grammar. I know there are several contributors, but that is no excuse.
Second, "probably Flash?" Have you heard of this thing called Flex, Flash Professional, Flash Catalyst, Flash Player, and AIR. Flash is and will be in the RIA space for some time.
Apple had their most profitable quarter in history and yet they could have had 10x the income if they would walk away from AT&T and fully supoport the Flash player on all the iDevices. I was prepared to order the iPad as soon as possible, but without the Flash support, not a chance.
WIll probably get an ipad(though not 1st generation) and look forward to developing for it, but I am concerned as well about Apples' closed system mentality, both in the device itself, and their vision of the web. Check out Alex Payne's post in which he suggests that 'if I had an iPad rather than a real computer as a kid, I’d never be a programmer today' http://bit.ly/a2LOpP
Real talk, it doesn't really work that way. If you want to create a device for the web, you need to be able to take all of these points into consideration. But i have a feeling steve jobs knows what he is doing. On the other hand, am sure they are scared of conflict of interest. Because actionscript 3.0 and the flash player is doing so well. apple wants to protect Quicktime player and objective c.
I got as far as the HTML5 section - it's completely wrong.
I tend to agree with the other comments, the article loses it's credibility by being so grammatically unsound. With that said, GO GOOG! :D
Nice and interesting post.
hmm, Is the iPad really the future of the web? I don't think so.
Though Im very enjoyable with iPad, surfing on net, checking Email, watching videos, playing games and so many, but, I should say iPad is not the future of web.
Speak of HTML 5, pat, this article "On Apple's iPad, HTML5 and Flash" might also interest readers.