JD on EP

Are you kidding? This ignorant blather will die down eventually. This is M$'s chance to create FUD, and peoples' chance to rant about Flash and how bad it is. "Now that Silverlight is here, we'll see a new era dawn!" Please.

You know, people are now blaming AJAX apps for the same things they've been blaming on Flash for years, browser back button broken, annoying pop-up windows, lame-advertisements. I mean, this isn't going to go away just because "SILVERLIGHT IS HERE". People will continue to design irritating and annoying things with whatever tools they have, as long as they, themselves, are irritating and annoying. Silverlight developers are no exception.

The truth never suffers from honest examination, so people interested in creating and maintaining FUD have everything to fear.

Remember, Microsoft bashing is not a (good) substitute for intelligence. With criticizing MS being so in fashion, even thoughtless anti MS rants have a wide audience. Don't fall into that trap.

[jd sez: Agreed. We need to stay on a higher ethical standard, while still correcting the misinformation.]

I understand that from a marketing and PR standpoint this kind of FUD can seem tantamount to a military-style disinformation campaign, but as the saying goes, "never ascribe to conspiracy what can be just as easily explained by sheer ignorance and incompetence."

While a PR person's first reaction may be to overreact (OMG! They're totally wrong! We'll be ruined! :), and a Flash developer's reaction (such as me) might be "Whatever. Idiots." I think there is a middle ground.

And that is, keep promoting the hell out of the success stories of the technologies. Shout it from the skies. LOOK! LOOK HOW AWESOME THIS THING IS! (And not just AIR, guys ;)

Adobe is doing such a great job at showcasing success stories, even supporting dev projects for your beta products, so much so that I think it has even spawned a new business model. Some Web 2.0 companies, such as Ribbit, are offering their API dev tools before the actual product release! That is awesome! Other people may have come up with the idea, but I only ever saw it first in the Flash space with Macromedia/Adobe. Way to go guys!

Now all you have to do is get some serious press time, dev articles, magazine articles, that sort of thing. Read up on your Sun Tzu ;) You don't want to go head to head with M$ on ad dollars alone, but also don't discount the strides you've already taken, the areas you're waaaay in the lead. I don't claim to have all the answers, I'm not a PR guy, just a developer with some ideas, but I think you're right john, this battle has to be won on more than bluster and misinformation.

HEY, FELLAS IT'S A PLEASURE TO BE ON THIS ADOBE PLAIN AFTER TRYING SO HARD...I'M A NIGERIAN BASED WEB ARTIST, OKAY & OUT HERE WE[ ARTISTS ] FACE QUITE A RANGE ISSUES FROM WEB TRAFFIC SPEED TO CERTIFICATION & INCENTIVES.

I'D LIKE TO EXHIBIT MY DESIGNS TO A NUMBER OF PROS TO ASSESS IN THE HOPE OF GETTING A GOOD CONTRACT.

PLS CONTACT ME IF YOU HAVE ANY USEFUL LINKS

THANK YOU ALL

"..I don't know if there are any actual Microsoft staffers behind the pseudonyms there, but the Microsoft culture is definitely influential in online discussions today..."

You call it FUD and then you go and instigate a silly remark like that.. Can I play that card everytime I see a reactive response like this only in Adobe's favour? - no... as its silly...

Anyway, I think passion at times overtakes reason. I did like Joel's post but felt he was a bit harsh on the idea of RIA.. but reading Joel over the years, it pays to listen at the very least to this caution..

-
Regards
Scott Barnes
RIA Evangelist
Microsoft.

I think the color of that discussion comes directly from the start. If you read the initial post, there's some points which force discussion to come into criticism. Some people are trying to pretend like there's the Fear of Flash in the air. However, the fear is only in the mind of person who don't want to look at the fresh incarnation of Flash Platform. They still keep the Flash under the siege. For them, Flash is still a baby; but we know that it grew much more older and now experienced.

Flash is the most popular Rich Service-Oriented Client, why Adobe not to broadcast this point to wide audience?

How is this for mean, John? I wish Adobe would take your salary and put it towards product development as opposed to spending it on your soapbox. Those who know, do. Those who don't...

[jd sez: I'll permit a certain amount of anonymous ad-hominem attacks here -- allowing such low-quality comments to remain published on my weblog -- to show that such dysfunctional attacks do exist. I'll delete 'em when I feel like it, though, because you're not advancing our understanding. You're welcome to get your own blog, and "own your words".]