Brightcove announced support for HTML5 today, and that could signify a coming change. So why is that good news for iPad users? As iPad App Insider covered in an earlier report on a possible Hulu iPad App, Apple and Adobe have a bit of a feud going. Apple does not want to have it’s mobile devices support Flash. That causes a problem for iPhone and iPad users wanting access to video content on the web, since the majority of it is encoded with Flash. As we noted before, there are work arounds. Developers can design apps specific for the iPad or iPhone and have the video in a format that it can read. Another option (and the one Steve Jobs is hoping to force with Apple’s lack of Flash support) is for websites to use HTML5. Brightcove offering HTML5 support is significant and other major players may follow suit. Perhaps we will look back on this as the start of an industry wide change.

Brightcove HTML5 support doesn’t just have long term implications. The two clients they have listed on their site using the HTML5 solution are Time Inc. and the New York Times. Expect to see both Time Inc. and the New York Times to have iPad ready sites at launch. It seems fitting that the New York Times would find a solution to have an iPad optimized site by launch. It was featured at the iPad Keynote, and the flash components of the site would not load.  Many saw this as an embarrassment for Apple.  How could they feature a site that did not load properly during it’s Keynote address of the iPad? Perhaps it was just Steve Jobs way of forcing the industries hand. Whatever the case, by the time you go check out your favorite story on the New York Times or Time Inc. with the iPad, everything should work perfectly.