Re: Proposed adaptive image element

On Jun 25, 2012, at 12:21 PM, Mathew Marquis <mat@matmarquis.com> wrote:

> 
> On Jun 25, 2012, at 2:49 PM, Edward O'Connor wrote:
> 
>> Hi Mat,
>> 
>>> Chairs and members of the HTML WG,
>>> 
>>> I’ve posted a proposal for an adaptive image element to a W3C wiki here:
>>> http://www.w3.org/community/respimg/wiki/Picture_Element_Proposal
>> 
>> I definitely think that we should add some variety of adaptive bitmapped image asset loading to HTML; I've made such feature proposals myself.
>> 
>> That said, I think it would be a mistake to add such a feature *in the HTML5 timeframe*. We've already deferred several other features to HTML.next; if we're going to actually finish HTML5, we need to stop taking on new features for it.
> 
> I’ll definitely defer to you guys on matters of process, as I’m well outside of my wheelhouse there. My only concern is the effect this decision could have on the time between introduction and a potential native implementation, if any. If this should be put off until HTML.next, what impact would that likely have? 
> 
> This is a rapidly growing problem, and has been for some time. I worry about putting off the potential for a native solution, as developers find increasingly “creative” ways to work around the issue — or, perhaps worse still, simply opt to serve images that account for the “highest common denominator” at an additional bandwidth cost to users who may see no benefit.

Sometimes, vendors are willing to implement features based on only a draft future spec or a rough proposal. So deferring a feature to HTML.next does not necessarily block implementation work.

In addition, HTML.next work will be starting fairly soon, without waiting for HTML5 to be finished. So waiting for HTML.next does not have to be a significant delay.

Without commenting on the merits of this particular case, I agree with Ted's comments that in general, we should hold off on adding HTML5 features.

Regards,
Maciej