(Image courtesy of MacRumors)

Need more proof that the iPad is about to change the world and at least maim (if not try to kill) Adobe Flash? A major online video provider has just switched to HTML5 and is bringing at least two heavyweight clients with them.

MacRumors is reporting on the new support for HTML5 video announced by Brightcove, a major online video platform with more than 1,000 customers -- including such high-profile websites as The New York Times and Time, Inc.

The move appears to be timed to this Saturday’s launch of the iPad, which as widely reported, does not support the traditional Adobe Flash most commonly used for video playback. The addition of HTML5 means that client videos will also be playable on the iPhone and iPod touch as well.

"Our customers want to be able to deliver their video content to every screen without sacrificing the quality, interactivity and monetization capabilities they have come to expect from the Brightcove platform," said Brightcove chairman and chief executive officer Jeremy Allaire. "The Brightcove Experience for HTML5 fills the gap between the current playback capabilities of the emerging standard and what our customers need to operate successful online video businesses."

Best of all, the new HTML5 support comes “at no additional cost to existing Brightcove customers,” who include a long list of magazine and newspaper publishers as well as broadcasters. As noted by MacRumors, “It seems HTML5 has to be purposefully implemented by the customer sites as not all the same features have been deployed to Brightcove’s HTML5 implementation. However, the company has a roadmap to deploy all the same features over time.”

Among the first two high-profile customers who have already committed to HTML5 through Brightcove are The New York Times and Time, Inc., with both websites being iPad-ready on launch day.