At a recent development conference in London, Facebook developer advocate Simon Cross answered questions related to Mark Zuckerberg’s recent criticisms of HTML5. “I think we have to separate HTML5 on the desktop Web from HTML5 on the mobile Web,” said Cross. “On the desktop it is like done. It is awesome, and it’s the future. On mobile it could be the future, but like any good technology it needs to prove itself.”
Cross added that there are three main areas that HTML5 proponents must address if HTML5 is going to become the future of mobile development: performance (speed and access to device features), distribution and monetization. Robin Berjon, who edits the HTML specification, said that W3C is working on many of those issues. “The billing issues are definitely being worked on. In terms of features we have a lot in the pipeline,” Berjon said.
