Is it too early to use HTML5

Question

I was wondering if it it too early to use HTML5 for a production site. Should I rather wait 6-12 months until users have updated to compatible html5 browsers? This leads me to,

Answer 1

A key point you must answer first is: what will HTML5 will bring to the new user? Upon answering find a middle ground:

Could you...

• Offer "traffic generating" content in the most compatible format?
• Seamlessly display the "best format" for a given browser (adaptive CSS)?
• Offer teasers which will encourage the user to download good browsers?
• Offer advanced content in the best format for the content itself?

Sometimes we construct advanced features in a site for ourselves, the web masters, and forget that the user may not even notice our efforts (like the stupid flash animations that everybody skips).

I agree that we all should start pushing the users toward new standards (imagine if we all boycotted IE and all sites refused to serve IE content!), but do so without shooting yourself in the foot and having an amazing site that only you can see.

Good luck.