I had a discussion with a potential client the other day, a startup, who are considering their technology strategy for a video-centric application. The question is, of course, what platform to use for the application. Web (HTML5). Flash(lol), mobile, … ?

Because the application involves video recording, the natural fit would be a client application built in Flash. But the prospect of launching a startup that uses Flash as a critical technology component would be problematic to say the least.

Not problematic if the founders were self-funded or if they were merely attempting to start and operate a real business, because then, all that would matter is whether the solution worked, was scalable, and was maintainable.

But lets be honest, this is a start up proposal, so at some point, if they’re successful, there will be investors on the scene who will balk at the idea of funding a Flash-based technology.

A browser-based (read HTML) client is possible–up to a point, that is, the point at which they must record video. And then, it’s just not possible–oh yes there are draft proposals in front of the HTML5 committee for recording media, just don’t expect a real solution this year or next.

Perhaps they could use a discrete Flash plug-in simply for video recording? But then they’ll have all the same issues. A site that won’t really work without a Flash plug-in.

Our recommendation is to simply ignore the browser altogether. If you’re a startup and you want to put your App on a platform where people will pay attention, put it on the iPad. Everything else is just noise. Yes you might sacrifice the initial size of your audience, but, your real audience at this point is potential investors and the iPad is the application platform where people are paying attention.

What’s disappointing is that the choice doesn’t have to be so stark. But our industry has been stampeded into essentially destroying a viable technology (Flash) in favor of a technology (HTML5) that doesn’t actually exist yet.

Remember, when someone says “HTML5″, unless they’re referring to the draft specification in front of the W3C committee, they’re simply referring to whatever current current browser support in terms of XHTML, CSS, and Javascript, with no guarantee of actual adherence to the standard or interoperability amongst browsers. In fact, many of the HTML demos produced by Google and Apple won’t run on anything except their own browsers.

Flash starts to look attractive in comparison to the tower of Babel that the various competing browsers promise. But there’s no point in looking back, in this industry, as Steve Jobs said, you only look forward.

Forward, right now, for ambitious application start ups, is the iPad and iPhone. Native application development.

As I’ve said before, if you must jump out of one frying pan, you might as well hit the fire instead of another frying pan. Take the leap, and go native on the most influential platform around, iOS. HTML5 is just another frying pan waiting to burn you.