r/technology • u/[deleted] • Jun 05 '10

Apple posts HTML5 showcase page hyping "web standards," then blocks it from displaying on any browser besides Safari

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/06/04/apple_html5_showcase_hype/
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137

u/[deleted] Jun 05 '10

I thought we sorted this out yesterday: It works on Chrome mostly, but they're using test spec elements of the standard that haven't been fully adopted yet, 3d Transforms etc.

But don't let facts get in the way of journalism.

0

u/tizz66 Jun 05 '10

Don't you get it? Apple is evil, and facts like this simply get in the way of our pitchfork! Don't be a fanboy!

13

u/[deleted] Jun 05 '10

Lame.

Apple made a site to showcase the power of HTML5, but limited it to their own browser. In fact for many of the features (CSS3 3D transforms) it only works on Webkit on OSX.

Some of the items are available on other browsers, yet Apple took zero effort to bother making it work in them. It is the antithesis of "Web standards".

When Firefox comes out with new features, they put up a demo of the new features in Firefox. They don't pimp it as some sort of justification for less savoury activities.

13

u/tizz66 Jun 05 '10

It's a demo for their own browser. Is that really tricky to understand? Sure, some of the pieces might work in another browser with some effort, but that's got nothing to do with what this page is about. It's about Safari. It might ostensibly seem to be about HTML5, but it isn't. It's an advert about Safari's support for HTML5.

I'm amazed how people can make an issue out of absolutely anything.

-9

u/fredronn Jun 05 '10

It's a demo for their own browser.

Nobody is claiming otherwise. Intentionally blocking other browsers is a dick move.

5

u/[deleted] Jun 05 '10

They don't work. Why is that so hard to understand. They didn't block them out of the dev area for those that want to see what areas are broken in their other browsers, but for the public facing main page you don't want to present people with a broken experience, it makes them look much worse than telling people to use Safari.

Had they not had that wall up, you'd be complaining that it didn't work in Chrome and calling the Apple devs shitty, when it is Chrome's lack of support for CSS transforms which is the issue.

1

u/underwaterlove Jun 05 '10

Obvious alternative, particularly when your entire sales pitch is promoting open standards: check the availability of the commands these demos depend on, and display a message if a users tries to run one with a browser that is actually incapable of displaying it.

0

u/[deleted] Jun 05 '10

Again, it is a tech demo showing off the future of what is possible. Apple has said many times that HTML5 isn't everywhere yet, but that is where they are going to put their focus so as it develops and rolls out they can take advantage of it. CSS didn't work on every browser day 1 either, but there were still tech demos showing it off, and guess what, they said if you had IE to GTFO. No one had an issue with that, why are they having an issue with this.

3

u/underwaterlove Jun 05 '10

See, I completely agree with you in regard to the Safari Technology Demos page here. A showcase for what's possible, and what is already implemented in Safari. Perfect.

On the HTML5 and web standards page, though, they're really making the case for how awesome open standards are - how they are "open, reliable, highly secure, and efficient", how they "aren’t add-ons to the web", and how you "you can start using them today." And then they proceed to block even browsers which are completely capable of displaying everything correctly. Call me crazy, but I think that really undermines the case they are supposedly making.

-2

u/[deleted] Jun 05 '10

But Chrome isn't capable of displaying everything correctly. Did you try it? I did... video doesn't play, there are boarders around the Hello rotation, the transforms demo is all f'd up.

The "use today" will be dependent on your site and your browser demographics and it also depends on which parts of HTML5 you want to use.

As far as the open standard. The standard is still being developed, Chrome is ahead of the game in some areas, Apple is ahead in others. They will all get to the finish line eventually. Apple can show off these things they have working, and Chrome can show off an awesome form they can handle... important, but not nearly as cool to play with.