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May 31, 2007
RIA validation
RIA validation: Amazing... the Techmeme cluster on Google Gears just keeps growing and growing... it jumped ahead of yesterday's big Startup Sweepstakes stories (Photobucket, Flektor, Stumbleupon, etc), and it's always remarkable when technology trumps business on Techmeme... but even the next morning the Google Gears news is at the top of the page, with over 60 links. (Some of those links even have novel information, and aren't just in it for the AdSense revenue! ;-) Why "RIA Validation"? In the original 2002 paper introducing "Rich Internet Applications" (PDF, summary), one of the key traits was to "embrace connected and disconnected clients." Local data storage has always been tricky -- browsers have token:value cookies, and Adobe Flash Player has larger storage limits and can also serialize objects, but it has been difficult to emulate a database when disconnected. The SQLite in Apollo and web browsers will help greatly... an application will still need to be designed for such dual-condition use, but one of the last big puzzle pieces is finally falling into place. Further, put this validation of occasional-connectivity into recent context: Microsoft recently announced they're bringing just-in-time compilation to their browser stack, for the "high-performance" angle in the RIA definition... video has clearly been elevated into an integrated first-class citizen, no long trapped in its little branded video box... the JavaFX announcement shows that everyone agrees on the value of design sensibility in application development... "communications" got some buzz two years ago when Ajax could refresh text without refreshing the page, but there's still little cam/mic action outside of Flash... everyone is at least paying lip-service to browser-neutrality, OS-neutrality, and device-neutrality now as well. In the last few months we've seen the entire industry gravitate around those principles laid out by a group of Macromedia staffers back in March 2002... everyone agrees with "experience matters" now. Seeing so much excitement now around offline access is startling, but very cool... today's acceptance validates the goals laid out in the original RIA whitepaper.
Posted by JohnDowdell at May 31, 2007 08:33 AM
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Comments
Here's where application platforms ought to go:
http://www.satine.org/archives/2007/05/29/how-to-build-the-next-ultimate-application-platform/
Posted by: Charles at May 31, 2007 09:10 AM
Another datapoint... an apparent Real Networks staffer emphasizes that their upcoming plugin will have an enduser experience more similar to Adobe Flash Player.
(I'm not sure about their "ripping" feature though... seems to violate YouTube's terms-of-service, the On2 codec, and even does a ThirdVoice-like overlay of their content onto your pages... many loose ends with this announcement, and I'm skeptical until they ship.)
Posted by: John Dowdell at May 31, 2007 03:00 PM
Another Real validation of Adobe Flash Player video experience:
"We rewrote the client engine to accelerate startup: it's fast. We've redone video rendering and added video controls to deliver smooth and responsive video playback... We've torn apart the installer and reduced it to the bare essentials. No message center automatic opt-in, no land-grab on media types... The price of entry is transparency."
Posted by: John Dowdell at May 31, 2007 10:31 PM