This from AppleInsider: Brightcove converts Time, NYT Flash video to HTML5 for iPad

There isn't much a backend for web designers now and that is sad, but Apple's strong arm tactics -- resisting the pull of Adobe's Flash in any of its satellite product stream -- may actually be causing a stir. The iDevice is of course, popular; I doubt anyone who comes to TMA or our colleague sites lacks an iDevice of one sort.

And while the online community may have spurned the idea of control by one company, reformulating the web for HTML5 isn't easy. It will take other large corporations to take steps in converting business to HTML5 and away from Flash.

It won't be tomorrow, but a web where HTML as a codebase overshadows proprietary plugins will be a good day. This work by Brightcove on the NYT and Time publications is encouraging for the future, and for interoperability of devices outside Apple's sphere of influence.