You can't swing a dead cat these days without hitting an article about how HTML5 is replacing Flash. First it was just web video, but now HTML5 is taking over document viewing and crappy browser games. What isn't getting as much attention is how HTML5 is displacing Flash OUTSIDE your browser. Let's take a look.

Cameras

The camera Flash has been around for over 700 hundred years. The original Flash used gun powder and had a 36% chance of killing the photographer on any single picture. Fortunately we evolved to using high powered LEDs, which dropped the photographer death rate to less than 10%. The success of sites like Flickr is directly related to this advancement.

Seriously you should have seen Flickr 700 years ago - there's wasn't a photostream with more then 8 pics. You'd find a user with some awesome pics and be like "man, I can't wait to see what they put up next. Oh wait - that last shot looks like his head covered with flaming gun powder. Impressive he was still able to get the shot while burning to death."

Whether Flash likes it or not it's use in cameras is coming to an end. Just last week Canon sent me a prototype of it's latest DSLR camera with HTML5. I gotta say this thing is pretty amazing. The quality of the daylight shots is unlike anything you've ever seen. Night shots using HTML5 instead of Flash are less impressive. Here's a sample:

As you can see there's still a little way to go here.

Flashers

When you think of Flashers you picture crusty fat dudes in trench coats approaching you on dark streets. They would open their coat and expose themselves. You'd run away while pretending not to be sneaking peaks. I decided to compare how traditional Flashers match up with the new HTML5ers. I ran a simple A/B test over a one week period and got some surprising results.

* This would actually have been higher, but I lost a night due to incarceration.

As you can see traditional Flashing clearing wins if you're just counting exposes. Once you factor in analytics that really matter HTML5ing is the better option. If you care about user engagement or repeat exposes then HTML5ing is the only way to go.

Updating BIOS/Firmware

Since the early days of computing anytime you'd want to update your BIOS or firmware the only option has been to Flash it. Newer devices such as the iPad and iPhone are not supporting Flash, which means the only way to update is to HTML5 a new firmware. This is great news to anyone whose ever bricked a device when a firmware update has gone wrong. If the update crashes while your HTML5ing your BIOS a simple refresh will restore it to it's previous state.

Study Habits

I think we all remember using Flash cards at some point in our academic careers. While they did a decent job at helping students learn there were some obvious issues. Take a look at the sample Flash card below:

Pretty standard. The question is on one side, but where is the answer? That's right - it's on the other side LOCKED BEHIND A PAYWALL. The big media conglomerates use this technique to squeeze every last penny from poor students. HTML5 cards fix this by putting the answer on the same side of the card. I think we can all agree this a much more open system.

Super Heroes

DC Comics super hero The Flash has been around since the 1940s and has been featured on TV as well as comics. He is best known for his iconic red jumpsuit, untimely crashes and excessive CPU usage. I'm happy to break this piece of news: In June 2010 DC Comics will replace The Flash with a new comic titled "The HTML5". The series will open while The HTML5 is still in high school. The plot will center around The HTML5's inability to pick a girlfriend, stuck in a tug of war between the lovely but restrictive Helen Twosixty the 4th (no kissing with tongue or touching below the cloths) and Oggla Vorbistein, whose a bit older (37 and still in high school) but open for anything.

The Future

I think it's clear that Flash is on it's way out in every aspect. In addition to the areas mentioned above keep an eye our for the remake of the movie Flashdance called HTML5dance. I hear HTML5 looks incredible in knee high leggings and stretched out collar sweatshirts.