There is a very clear distinction between an closed standard and a closed implementation.
H.264 is patent encumbered and controlled by an organization that only temporarily does not charge for its use. It will never be open. And btw. Apple is on the H.264 consortium and will profit handily once prices will be charged for H.264.
Flash is an open standard with only one implementation (unless you count gnash and swfdec, etc).
I can't wait for Flash to go away too, but this is certainly the lesser evil.
H.264 is patent encumbered and controlled by an organization that only temporarily does not charge for its use.
What has been the result of H.264 being patent encumbered? Practically: nothing. So though it's true that it is, it has essentially caused no loss.
What has been the result of SWF being open? Practically: nothing. Adobe's closed implementation remains the standard implementation. So though it's true that SWF is open, it is essentially closed.
H.264 ... will never be open.
Patents expire.
Apple is on the H.264 consortium and will profit handily once prices will be charged for H.264.
Not relevant, though I'd point out that Apple has very few patents that comprise H.264 in comparison to the entirety of the pool. The probability that they make or will make any significant money is extraordinarily low.
Fundamentally however, my original post that you replied to is specific to Google's patently arbitrary definition of "open". Google doesn't build an open implementation of SWF into their browser, they build in Adobe's Flash player. Even if they did, it goes to my above point re: SWF is effectively Adobe Flash. Google is not anywhere close to open, no matter how often they repeat the mantra.
H.264 is patent encumbered and controlled by an organization that only temporarily does not charge for its use. It will never be open. And btw. Apple is on the H.264 consortium and will profit handily once prices will be charged for H.264.
Flash is an open standard with only one implementation (unless you count gnash and swfdec, etc).
I can't wait for Flash to go away too, but this is certainly the lesser evil.