And here we are again, another year, another time for 2012 predictions. Here is my personal version, right from my tea leaves.
HTML5 will be sexy for marketing sites
Wait, what? HTML5 was already here in 2011. Yes, you think it might have been there, but first and foremost, the penetration of Internet Explorer 6 (without HTML5 support) was too high not to scare off marketing executives, and the workarounds were cumbersome.
But on January 3rd 2012, a historic moment happened. Roger Capriotti, Director of Internet Explorer Marketing, announced:
IE6 has been the punch line of browser jokes for a while, and we’ve been as eager as anyone to see it go away. In fact, we launched the IE6 Countdown site last March to help accelerate the process. Less than a year later, I’m thrilled to say that the United States has joined the ranks of Austria, Poland, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Norway in dropping below 1% usage of IE6. In addition, the Czech Republic, Mexico, Ukraine, Portugal and the Philippines are also entering the Champions’ Circle. We hope this means more developers and IT Pros can consider IE6 a “low-priority” at this point and stop spending their time having to support such an outdated browser.
To significantly accelerate this, tools like Adobe Edge are maturing, and allow not just to visually animate with Flash-like user interfaces, but also add JavaScript actions to your animated web content.
The website FROM THE ROUGH is a great showcase that HTML5 sites don’t have to look like buggy Flash sites from 2001 anymore.
And with Adobe fully investing in HTML5, 2012 could be the year for decent interactive HTML5 marketing sites.
Flash will evolve in gaming and video
The signs are indicating that Flash’s higher end gaming footprint is slowly but steadily expanding, and Flash remains the dominant solution for premium video and live streaming. Although HTML5 video works well for certain basic use cases, the relevant standards are still being defined.
Televisions will become a digital game changer
Without trying to speculate on rumors, but to quote the Business Insider, we are very close to the next generation of television experiences.
Apple is reportedly on the cusp of redefining the television, the way it redefined the smartphone with the iPhone and the tablet with the iPad.
The speculation about an Apple TV kicked into overdrive after Steve Jobs told biographer Walter Isaacson he “finally cracked” a great interface for television.
Besides Apple, CES this year will certainly set the tone – and eventually my Beet.tv interview on Digital Home experiences.
Video distribution models will evolve
Likely the most provocative, but as part of the digital home revolution, 2012 might the year were we see video distributions models evolve. Let’s keep this as it is and revisit it in review in 2013, but it could be the most interesting change.
There are many more predictions, as example that content will continue to be more relevant than specs, or that the future of tablets will be HD+ displays, but I will leave it as it is for now, and defer to your imagination (or insight) for further predictions or comments.
Enjoy 2012.
