# HTML5, View Source and Innovation

By [Continuations](https://continuations.com) · 2010-05-06

html5, innovation

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I believe that PDF and Flash will hang around for quite some time.  They are too widespread to disappear quickly.  But I am excited about the rise of HTML5 and the gradual replacement of these closed formats.  For instance, [Scribd’s move to HTML5](http://techcrunch.com/2010/05/05/scribd-html5/) is one such step.  The reason for my excitement is mostly because I don’t like how PDF and Flash often break basic ingredients of the web, such as linking and search (yes, I am aware that there are workarounds, but they are ugly).

But there is one additional reason to be excited that I believe is sometimes overlooked: the ability to “View Source.”  I believe that much of the speed of innovation on the web has been enabled by developers rapidly learning from each other.  You see something neat, like a really nice looking form validation, and the code is just one click away.  In a sense the web (front end) has been the ultimate in open source.  The move to HTML5 will further this ability.  There are many areas where I believe this will help, but one in particular: the creation of better and better learning objects for math and physics.

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*Originally published on [Continuations](https://continuations.com/html5,-view-source-and-innovation)*