

Why is HTML Suddenly Interesting? - michaelfairley
http://radar.oreilly.com/2009/08/why-is-html-suddenly-interesti.html

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mpk
HTML and the whole dynamic web-app thing became interesting once a major party
deployed a wide-spread application that used asynchronous updates.

Wait, let's go back a little.

HTML became interesting once Microsoft implemented an ActiveX XMLHTTPRequest
object to enable a web-based Outlook client.

It became a stable development target once Microsoft disbanded the IE
development team ('we've won the browser war so let's add some features to
Word instead') and other browsers (primarily the Mozilla XUL/Gecko-based
Firefox) took this de-facto standard and provided a viable alternative to IE
with a more-or-less API compatible XMLHTTPRequest object.

That IE6 is still the industry standard is a thorn in the eye of many
developers (including yours truly), but it has presented Microsoft with enough
inertia that they now can no longer dictate how the next generation of
browsers is going to behave.

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tlrobinson
Because "HTML 5" has very little to do with "HTML" the markup language. Most
of the interesting features are accessed via JavaScript APIs, not markup.

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noss
So my gut feeling to stay with HTML 4.01 and use the new cool javascript
features is perfectly sane?

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endtime
Short answer: HTML 5 and fast Javascript engines.

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known
Why asynchronous file upload still a pain?

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sho
tl;dr version: because html5 is coming and MS can't ruin it for everyone this
time.

I agree and have been getting acquainted with HTML5; I advise everyone else
to.

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mixmax
What does _tl;dr_ mean? I've seen it a few times here and wondered about it.

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83457
too long; didn't read

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mixmax
Thanks.

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onreact-com
Yeah, exactly. I started coding HTML in 1999 and soon moved to JavaScript and
DHTML which quickly got forgotten until lately the AJAX wave started. My love
affair with Flash was only a very short one. My hope in SVG never
materialized. Before that HTML was dull and outdated. We still use only 5
fonts for web copy etc. and it's already ten years later.

The Microsoft monopoly has killed progress.

Seeing Apple blocking Opera from the iPhone and another behemoth, Google being
the main contender I don't see a much better "mobile" future. The market will
soon "consolidate" and another monopoly will make HTML dull again.

We need a really free web with really free software. I don't think the
"mobile" one will be it. Maybe the "Internet of things" will be the one that
frees us from the shackles of stifling monopolist corporate rule.

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pxlpshr
I think there's a bit of pessimism in your comment, specifically in regard to
Apple/Opera and ignoring the strengths of Webkit. In fact, I believe the
iPhone already supports some HTML 5 standards.

However I can't say I blame your negativity given the bad taste MS left in
everyone's mouth.

