Why should I care about HTML5?

So, continuing with my technology trend, let us talk about HTML5 and how this will change the way you use the web. You're probably asking yourself, why does this even matter? What the heck is HTML5 anyway? Without going into too much web jargon, HTML5 is the new web standard, and is what many new websites will be built with.

HTML 5 is probably already affecting some of you without even knowing it. How you ask? Do you have a mobile phone with a mobile browser, such an iPhone, PalmOS, or Android device? This affects you now. HTML5 makes it easier for web developers to include media into their pages, without having to use Flash. Have you ever been annoyed that you can't really use websites on your phone because it doesn't have Flash on it? HTML5 has the potential to solve this problem.

Web services such as Gowalla, Vimeo, YouTube, and Google are starting the transition over to HTML5. Once again, the question is asked: why is this important? How does it affect the end user? How does it affect advertising?

To be honest, I'm not quite sure. But it does change things. Lets take for example Gowalla. This is a website that makes going places a game using the GPS in your phone to track where you've been (provided you tell it where you are at that moment. It doesn't automatically stalk you). Advertisers can use such technologies to their advantage to make some pretty creative advertising campaigns. They can use the GeoLocation to make games or supply advertising based on where you are geographically. It has the potential to make advertising much more immersive and interactive.

I guess we'll have to see, won't we?