Always a major player in format wars of the past, it's a wonder no one thought to ask the porn industry to weigh in on the Flash versus HMTL5 debate before now. This past weekend, Conceivably Tech nabbed an interview with Ali Joone, the founder of Digital Playground, one of the biggest adult film studios in the U.S. Way back when the question we were all asking was, "HD DVD or Blu-ray?" Joone's answer was set in stone; his studio backed Blu-ray and famously had problems getting companies to produce pornographic content on the new format.
Now, we could be on the cusp of a new format war. With a very public row between Apple and Adobe, and Flash 10.1 coming to Android, it all smells just a little bit familiar. We might not be there yet, but as of late, there's been a definite 'this world ain't big enough for the both of them' vibe about the HTML5/Flash discussions.
When asked if Flash will survive, Joone's response was a resounding no: "HTML 5 is the future," he told Conceivably Tech, adding later that for mobile devices, Flash is just a drain on battery.
"Mobile browsers run HTML 5 very well. Flash brings everything to a crawl and has an impact on battery life. With HTML 5, there is no reason to show our content in Flash."
CT reports that Joone has been singing the praises of HTML5 for over a year, and with good reason: with the iPhone, Digital Playground got around Safari's lack of Flash support and Apple's 'no porn' rule by offering HTML5 streams. These streams, along with HTML5 compatibility in mobile browsers, allow for Joone's opinion that Android's Flash 10.1 support is irrelevant.
So DP has already written off Flash when it comes to mobile devices, but what about desktop users? Apparently the company will be dropping support for that ASAP, too.
"We are waiting for browsers to catch up. As soon as they are ready, we will move everything to HTML 5," Joone revealed to CT.
With HTML5 flourishing, it's easy to see why some people might think Flash is on the way out. However, for now, a large part of the Web still relies on the format. Do you think Flash is on life support or do you think the Internet can handle two formats?
If you're interested in reading more on Joone's HTML5-related thoughts, along with what he thinks of 3D, digital distribution and porn on smartphones, head over the Conceivably Tech for the full interview.
