The fact that the iPad is going to be a massive game changer in so many different areas is not even up for dispute anymore, if indeed it ever was, and the effects are already being felt on the internet even before the iPad is released, according to Wired’s Epicenter blog. Epicenter says that the fact that the iPad doesn’t use Flash, and therefore internet sites that use Flash won’t work properly on it, has prompted site developers to launch iPad-compatible web sites that use HTML5 rather than Flash. Epicenter says that such heavy-hitters as the NYT, WSJ and NPR are all launching iPad-friendly sites sans Flash, with pages optimized for reading on the iPad’s screen. All three newspapers have also devised their own iPad apps.
Epicenter concludes by saying that the iPad’s larger screen size ensures that it will have an even greater impact on the internet that the iPhone did, simply because developers don’t have to worry about trying to fit everything onto the iPhone’s smaller screen and can therefore concentrate on building a full site with Flash-less video, rather than just an app.
By Maura Sutton
[Source: Wired.com]
