20th January 2010
Will your website work on the new Apple tablet?
So, it’s just one week before we finally get to see the Apple iTablet/iBook/iPad/iPallette/iSlate/iDontcarewhatitscalled (probably) at their event on the 27th. Exciting stuff. But unless I’m missing something then there has been surprisingly little mentioned about how the rise of tablet computing (it isn’t just Apple developing a tablet computer) might affect the way we build web resources.
For instance, the iPhone doesn’t work with Flash and according to most people in the know about these things, nor will the tablet. Why? Primarily because it dissolves battery at an alarming rate (as highlighted to me by the Guardian’s tech editor Charles Arthur on Twitter today). It’s also quite buggy. I should say now that I’m not actually the Manifest London web nerd guru – that title goes to Mike Francis, but for me it seems the rise of tablet computing (and indeed the mobile internet) could therefore have a big impact for a lot of content-heavy websites.
We noted in our 2010 predictions that Javascript frameworks such as jQuery and Mootools will increasingly rival Flash (and software in general) in terms of creating dynamic page content – but as more and more people access the web via smartphones or tablets, surely we will also become less motivated to use Flash? How much of your website content uses Flash? Have you considered what your site looks like on an iPhone, or how it will look using a tablet computer? I don’t think Flash will disappear anytime soon, but there will certainly be an impact for sites that rely too heavily on Flash content.
Other growing considerations will include content dimensions – the iPhone has very specific dimensions (which will likely be shared by the forthcoming tablet) which could cause a headache for those using other proportions. Apple’s proprietary software will all use iFrame for video rendering and content that doesn’t use this will have compatibility issues (however slight). As an aside, very few video cameras render video in iFrame, meaning quick editing on iPhoto is more difficult and precious battery will be used converting the files in the editing process.
Anyway – all of this is pie-in-the-sky until the 27th so we’ll just have to sit tight and wait and see. But if what I think is true, then we’ll see a rush from brands to create websites that perform to their optimum on a tablet. For those that don’t have the budget to create a dedicated app or an alternate mobile site, it could prove a headache.
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The i pad will be utterly ridiculous. I cannot see myself dropping $400 to $600 for a device which will not do half the things which my mobile computer can. I normally like Apple, especially the apple iphone. But this is a little bit overboard. I wish them well nevertheless I will not be buying one at any time soon.
In the iPad v. Kindle situation, this gives the publishers something of a negotiating lever
One query I do have is: Do smaller publishing corporations have all their stuff out there for download? And did the deal with ATT produce a monopoly to a degree? Those queries are on my mind about this.