While Flash is still the industry standard used for online videos and games, many sites are slowly moving over to the emerging HTML5 video element. In a move indicative that the web is starting to use the new technology, Facebook is now using HTML5 for all of its videos.
While most computer users are not bothered by the use of Flash, since most browser already have the plugin installed by default, users of Apple’s devices are not so lucky. With the release of its iPad, Apple has made it clear that it will not be supporting Flash on any of its devices.
Apple has long been pushing the use of HTML5 for online videos, which does not require any browser plugins. YouTube has since begun providing videos in HTML5 format, although the majority of its videos are still using Flash. With Facebook now beginning to use HTML5 for its videos, this is a huge step towards the adoption of the new HTML standard becoming accepted. iDevice users just need to browse Facebook using Apple’s Safari web browser in order to view the HTML5 videos.
