I just wrote about the growth of open source technology in IT departments, driven by the interoperability, flexibility, and freedom from proprietary vendor lock-in open source provides.  A similar phenomenon is about to hit the Web developer world, which has for years been dominated by Adobe Flash technology.

Enter HTML5.

The most talked about feature – thanks to Apple’s continued refusal to Flash enable the iPad and iPhone – is the ability to embed multimedia elements using tags. 

Anyone with an iDevice knows well the frustration that comes with not being able to properly view pages or play content due to a No Flashing policy.  HTML5 offers a way around this dilemma – and other iRestrictions – as Playboy has proven, building a Web app that allows users to subscribe to its full archive while circumventing the App Store.

While media playback and animation have drawn the most attention, but benefits of HTML5 go run deeper thanks to the flexibility it brings to Web apps and independence from plug-ins that require installation and updating, and are an excessive battery drain.

“Many people focus on the video and flashy graphic elements (or rather the lack of Flash) when they talk HTML5,” says TMCnet Web director Scott Bouchard.  “The real power behind HTML5 lies in the tools it will provide designers for building powerful Web-based applications.”

To provide an ongoing forum for discussing those applications as they materialize – and the technology behind them – Joe Mazzeo, founder of the Crossfire Group, has started a new HTML5 blog.

“This blog is dedicated to those seekers with a passion to actually read and learn about those technologies that will bring the future of the Web to fruition and radically alter our lives,” writes Mazzeo.

His readers will be those looking for answers to the many questions still surrounding HTML5.  How will HTML5 revolutionize user interfaces and enhance cloud-based services?  How will services be delivered using HTML 5?  What is the migration path to HTML 5 and what are its limitations?

Joe’s mission is to develop a continuing dialogue with the HTML5 community to answer these questions and more. 

If you are looking to become part of that dialogue, you should also block out July 27-28 on your schedule and book a trip to the Kimmel Center in New York, for DevCon5, the HTML5 developers conference.

Mazzeo predicts dramatic change for the application world as standards-based browsers and HTML5 mature, creating a new bar for Web developers everywhere.

“The shackles are about to come off and the Internet is going to enter a new era of dynamic interactivity the likes of which we’ve only experienced with custom made high-end software,” says Bouchard.  “It’s like the ultimate open source software.”

Follow the HTML5 blog for the latest information on the next generation of Web development tools, and register today for DevCon5 to make sure you don’t fall behind in what will be a rapidly and fundamentally changing space.