It looks like Adobe Flash is part of another Web video debate, but this time Apple's sitting on the sidelines.
At issue is Google's declaration that it will no longer support the H.264 video codec in Chromium, the open source project behind Google's Chrome Web browser. Instead, Google wants developers to encode video using Theora and its own WebM codec, which aren't subject to licensing fees for commercial use.
But for Website publishers who want to get away from Flash on desktop browsers, Google's move could make HTML5 harder to implement. Publishers would have to add WebM encoded versions of their HTML5 videos to support a browser that now has roughly 10 percent of the market. As John Gruber points out, publishers may end up forcing Chrome users to stick with Flash instead, even if the world's dominant video site (Google's YouTube) leads the way on WebM.
I suppose this whole dilemma doesn't have the same incendiary tone as Steve Jobs' thoughts on Flash and the surrounding debate, but it's still a big development for the future of Web video.