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January 26, 2006
Out of the ghetto
Out of the ghetto: Yesterday I asked your help in assisting people, who haven't yet used Flash Platform technology, to get up to speed on the Public Beta of Flex 2.0, expected Very Soon Now. Last night I realized more of what drove my concern. ColdFusion users know what I'm talking about -- the Allaire group did something truly innovative in the mid-90s, but later seemed to get pushed off to the side in the press, off in their own little ghetto, by subsequent talk about latecomers like ASP and PHP. (ColdFusion adoption *is* real high, particularly for realworld non-hobbyist use, but that "Not Invented Here" blindness has been frustrating.) Flash folk also know what I'm talking about -- we've been doing live-text refreshes in Player for a decade, and with the Allaire merger solidified client/server integration as "RIAs", but it wasn't until 2005 after the marketing term "Ajax" appeared that we saw people gushing about separating data updates from presentation updates. I don't want to see the same invisibility happen to Flex -- I think the technology is too important, too empowering, to be shunted off into our own little ghetto somewhere. I've suffered more than enough "You must use Internet Explorer" web apps in my life -- I've watched more than enough committees dither over complex specifications that never get implemented identically among different engines. I want to see a lightweight, universally accessible, and consistent way to create browser-based interfaces. I want that as a geek; I want that as a consumer. If Flex gets competition later, that's one thing, but I don't want to see it ignored by the influential until followup approaches appear. So, if you can tip off someone outside our little circle about the Flex 2.0 Public Beta, in an honest way that focuses on how they might benefit, then that would be a great help to me, thanks. I don't want to see great technology marginalized by lack of awareness again...!
Posted by John Dowdell at January 26, 2006 12:45 PM