HTML5 is not...

Some revolutionary standard that is going to totally eliminate flash. Its not driving web applications. Its not providing animation effects. Its not even involved in half the sites that are being labeled as an "HTML5" site.

So, what is HTML5?

HTML5 is the next long anticipated release of the HTML markup langauge. HTML is a document structuring langauge. It provides constructs for the content on the web page and help organizes the types of content. The HTML5 release will provide a far greater spectrum of organizational constructs and will allow for more strictly defined content. As an example, under the current standard most web developers will structure menu items in an unordered list as :

Under the HTML5 standard there will be constructs for navigation. For example, the menu above would be written like:

Nothing revolutionary here, just a better definition of the type of content contained within the tags.

Why the confusion? 

Its a marketing term, similar to how Web2.0 has been used in the past. It encompasses a large spectrum of web based functionality (most of it would be correctly labeled as AJAX or JavaScript). Also, the early release of the video tag has lead people to believe that HTML5 can replace flash. Again, another very mislead assumption. Can you play videos using HTML5? Yes. Do you need to generate video files in many formats to make it compatible with most browsers and still need a flash fallback. Yes.

This is confusing!

Yes and that is done on purpose to sell people on the idea of HTML5. Don't be sucked in by the marketing shine - understand what you are getting when someone promotes the idea of HTML5.

A recent example...

Amazon recent released a web-based cloud reader for its Kindle book reader. It is being touted as a "great HTML5 web app". We agree - its a great app! BUT it has nothing to do with HTML5. Looking at the source code its easily found that the page is generated under the HTML4 standard. On top of that, the whole page is generated using a massive JavaScript file. Again, its an excellent implementation of this technology, but it has nothing to do with HTML5.

In conclusion, don't be wowed by the "HTML5", its simply a way to more accurately define the the content on a web page. No magic there. All the real magic is done using AJAX ;)