Ken Toley

So what is the future of software?

Thoughts about Web 2.0

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Talk about Web 2.0 and the concept of software as service has been alive for nearly a decade but this year it seems we may see it blossom from its idealistic theories and more ugly practice. Not having to ship your software in a shrink wrapped box has obvious advantages, and updates that can be pushed to your customers that fix bugs and improve service should make for better software. Hey, need good resources to accompany your documentation, or to direct users to tools that work with your application, no problem, you can integrate third party content and services beneath your application chrome into brilliant mash-up. Completely user focused software design should become king.

However what other changes would we see? I find myself with more questions then answers.

We would expect software to become cheaper, and in some cases even free for use; funded through integrated advertising.
We would expect software to become more stable and easier to use given it can be updated at any time.
We would expect software to become more powerful because the expertise of different industries could be combined in ways not conceived of in the original application design.
We would expect software to evolve much faster then current cycles.

But what challenges will that bring to the table for developers and software designers and producers? Consider using advertising to make software free. How can the need to generate revenue be balanced with a user experience that is not to distracting? Well sponsors have influence on the software use as the do the entertainment media we view?

Will the quality of software and expectations change because updates can be more frequent? Consider a lot of the free online applications we already use that are seemingly in perpetual beta. The ability accurately to track the use of each individual feature and how many advertising dollars a specific feature may be able to bring in, may have more impact on what bugs are considered critical then the nature of the problem.

How about those mash-ups? What type of impact will third parties or individual users have on the distribution of content and services? Having to coordinate updates with several other companies would be a challenge. Having to test all the pieces work well together would be an even bigger challenge.

Then there is your user community. The ability to target a specialized user in a niche market becomes far more viable given the ability to reach your users and cut down your production costs. But does it also make it easier to identify new markets, and adapt your software to a different audience? In theory it does; it’s just business logic right? Perhaps, but then there may be less user "community" when competition from other free or low cost software services allow a user to be less committed to a particular brand.

What about operating systems? I have heard the idea that cross platform Web 2.0 applications could render the need to continuously upgrade your operating system obsolete. Freeing users from the proprietary differences of what software they can use because of it’s availability on their OS is an appealing thought but don’t write of OS vendors just yet. It’s not hard to imagine OS upgrades to come chocked full of an impressive range of Web 2.0 apps to fulfill every category of application need you may ever dream of having and promptly direct you to their solutions as your individual need is detected. Something not unlike the web browser wars when the internet was young is not impossibility. Nor is the idea of your application suites being bundled into the cost of your Internet access along with your phone and cable TV.

So is this the new age for the small software company, the best thing for users since the PC, more control for the big software companies or something else?
It’s hard to tell, and it is hard to say who will decide in the end.

So far it has not been quite the untamed western front on the internet I imagined in say 2003. But then again, maybe the new frontiers just are not quite so wild any more.

Is your company building or are you working out this new paradigm shift? What do you think?

Adobe Media Player is in Beta!

And it is about time.

]]> AMP is in beta and I have to say I am pretty happy about it. I think I am not alone in my dream for on demand ala-cart media entertainment. As it stands I watch most of my Television Series via mail delivered DVD subscription rental. Juggling all the things in life between home and work make the idea of me having to be sitting in front of my TV during the one time a Network assures me the program I want to see will be playing less the appealing. Lots of people love their DVRs for much the same reason but with more and more content being published online from past episodes on the network to extra fan content, and independent producers making a name for themselves, I really want the ability to get everything I am interested in, in when place, when I want it. AMP looks like it could be just the solution.

But what makes it good? Well content streamed and downloaded to my computer at a quality good enough to play on my TV is great! The ability to subscribe to any content that is available and have it pushed means I can keep up with my content with very little effort. The idea that anyone could produce their own web series in as high a quality as they want and be assured their viewers can see it, navigate it, get notifications of new content without having to produce an application to view it is fantastic. The thing I feel may make or break the success of the Amp in my opinion will be how creative advertising becomes when it is integrated into it environment. Will it be intrusive, will it look like web banners, will it look like traditional TV ads? What would the advantages be in this Web 2.0 medium for the viewer, the advertiser? I suppose time will tell.

http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/mediaplayer/

What is the difference between a Flash Expert and a Flash user?

The Flash "Expert" is primarily an expert because others are willing to refer to him or her as such. It does not matter how much you know or how good your skills are. There are always those who know less then you, and those who know more. Being a big fish in a small pond can make one as "successful" as being world famous if you exploit what you have to achieve results you want. When you think of it, you could be really smart and really talented but if no one knows about your abilities then no one thinks you are and expert. Just the same you can have one or two successful projects that the other folks in your office were not able or inclined to try and sure enough you will be billed as the resident genius no matter how hard you try to tell them, "It really was not that hard. Anyone can do it."

So at this point some readers are probably thinking, "sure that happened to me" or "no way I had work hard to be this good" and more generally "ok so what's your point?"

Well the point is that often words define us. Once you become the "Expert," well people expect miracles from you. And while that may sound like a lot of pressure, the funny thing is when you are always honest with yourself you start producing those miracles. By virtue of you being and "Expert" or local "genius" after a while anything you produce becomes a miracle. You spend a little more time on your challenges; learn to look at things from different perspectives. You start putting priority on delivering results and waste less energy worrying about how. You evolve the attitude that you know you can achieve your goals because it's what everyone expects you to do and it's what you expect of yourself. After all, that is what "Experts" do. Experts keep learning about their professions. Experts keep expanding their skills. Experts start socializing and sharing with other experts so they can learn from each other. In reality the "Expert Flash user" is just a "Flash user" that took on a new title and thus a new definition.

The same can be said for words like "Novice, Beginner, Designer, Developer, Scripter" etc. They put us in a box that tells us what our expectations are. A Scripter is not supposed to develop complex things from scratch, a Designer is not supposed to code, a Developer can't tell you what looks good. If you want to grow beyond your box, then you need to give yourself a new title, a new definition and think of yourself that way. Do what "those" people do because it is different. Go where "those" people go because you have not been there before. When you believe you are one of those people, everyone else will too, and then you become one of them. It does not always happen right away. Sometimes it takes some time. There has to be a sense of comfort in the change.

It's that willingness to make a change to step outside the group, challenge the conventions of your box that starts the journey from "user" to "Expert".

"Whether you think that you can, or that you can't, you are usually right."

- Henry Ford (1863-1947)

What was your first project in Flash?

As a member of the Flash team I can tell you it is always a challenge balancing "technical/ API" enhancements along with "design / visual" enhancements with Flash. Ideally anything that provides a visual design improvement is maximally exploited when it can be used dynamically applied ActionScript.

The problem is, as features get more complex, the amount of code a user has to write, and the degree of coding skill tends to increase proportionally. It is enough to keep some users lingering in the world of ActionScript 2 while the things that most express their creativity are best built or only possible in ActionScript 3.

]]> To be motivated to learn more about anything I have personally found, albeit more recently, that small steps toward an achievable goal provides both a foundation for future learning and tangible measure of success right now.

When I first picked up Flash I had a few advantages. I had used Director before and there were some transferable skills. I also had a background in programming that gave me a framework in which to approach Flash. However neither was enough to keep me from the pit fall of biting off more then I can chew. I decided to build an interactive online portfolio. I spent days struggling with the timeline, countless hours searching through the documentation to figure out what actionScript I needed to use, and even more time figuring out exactly how I was going to produce a remotely interesting design of my application with no idea how to use the drawing tools.

Many times along the way I was discouraged and wanted to give up or start over, but in my case I wanted Flash to be a big part of my next career so giving in was not a luxury I permitted myself. In the end I built my portfolio, in about the most complex file you can imagine, but it was a proud moment. In retrospect, the projects I built later were all much smaller and less ambitious. I aimed for a narrow scope of functionality in projects I knew I could build and increased the complexity and challenge over time. When I got good at a particularly approach to a regular problem I tried to take a different route to solve it. Eventually all those small goals resulted in a wide breadth and depth of Flash skills I still use today.

I can't help but wonder if the pain of my first project humbled me into a more reasonable approach to learning or the success of my hard, but primarily misdirected, efforts gave me the sense that Flash was not something that was just beyond my grasp. What would have happened if I failed? It makes me think that the baby step approach may be the best way to learn Flash or to make the transition from wearing a Designer hat for visuals to a Developer hat for interactivity. Working on the Flash team I wonder if there is a way to integrate that concept into Flash to help users grow their skills much faster then they currently do.

Perhaps to do that we would first have to know what are the first projects people normally build in Flash, and what are the things people who have never used Flash most want to do. What does a user who considers themselves a Designer or Animator find they most need ActionScript for and what are they most challenged by. Maybe a few testimonials can help those new to the community figure out what their baby steps should be.

So it is nearing the dawn of the New Year and two things are hot topics around the water cooler. WPFe and DRM

Windows Presentation Foundation Everywhere is Microsoft's Flash killer. Only so far it is not everywhere and is struggling to have the equivalent functionality that Flash does. The Party line for why create WPFe is that C# developers wanted the same capabilities as Flash and Flex but wanted to continue using only Microsoft Technology. Which is interesting because they created their own MXML like tags for layout, and they are targeting users that want to leverage experience with JavaScript and HTML, and I can swear I can hear them singing "I can do anything you can do better!.... I can do anything better then you!!!!" But is there truth to MS's motivational claims? Do they need to build their Flash killer so that RIA apps can better work with existing MS technology?

]]> In my opinion Flex and Flash focus on following standards whenever possible. This is one of the reasons you can use Flash or Flex as a presentation layer for almost anything. Flash-Lite has provided capabilities on devices, and Apollo will fill specialized usage on the desktop. These currently work with MS server side and client side technologies where ever there are standards in between. So why you WPFe. Is it more a matter for religion?

Perhaps there is some advantage in the use of Windows Media Player Video. MS has some degree of Digital Rights Management. For some companies this is a perceived requirement. Many developers, and media pirates for that matter, will tell you DRM is a waste of time and money. Any solution can be defeated. By implementing DRM you make big corporations happy, mildly annoy media pirates, and really tick off consumers that feel their fair use rights are violated.

I'm inclined to believe there is truth in both camps. My question is more along the lines of, how much security is too much. Clearly, upsetting the legit consumer is not the primary concern in every DRM solution. Although several times I have heard a non-technical users angrily identify Flash as the reason they could not store internet videos on their hard drive any more. I suppose from there perspective FLV is a form of DRM. Did that restriction save some companies money? Did it stop a large number of users from republishing FLVs?

Well folks, it’s a new day with Max on the way and a new beta to Play!

Jump on Labs and check out the latest player. Tell me if we broke your site, tell me if you like the new Full Screen feature for video. Tell me if you wanna come work for the Flash Player team.

Enjoy!

]]> Honestly one thing I have to say is that user feed back has been pouring in regarding the Player 9 release, and a good deal of that feed back went into this update, including the Full Screen feature. We have been making an effort to evolve the Player with how people use and want to use Flash. And you should watch the skies for more surprises to come.

See ya at MAX!

-Ken

Woo Hoo AS3 is on the scene!!!!

Like Val Kilmer in Real Genius ActionScript 3 is both impressive and scary. It offers the best performance Flash developers have ever witnessed from the Flash Player and in my opinion enough power to rival the capabilities of Java. Although like Val's character you are not quite sure how much sanity is there to balance that genius. You don't really feel your idle threats will keep it under control and you fear that when you are not looking you might end up with an ice rink in your hallway or a house full of weapons grade laser cooked pop corn. Is potential disaster is actually worse then the reality?

]]> AS3 is cool; REALLY COOL, but I won't lie to you. You may be happier with it if you suffered through a few Java development courses in undergrad and happily yelped "thank you sir can I have another". But I am not rambling on so that I can scare you off. My post today is to make use of a momentary laps in workload and remind everyone that the syntax and structural shift from AS1 to AS2 was no picnic for many and the same will be said for what is more of a paradigm shift from AS2 to AS3. There will be new things you have to learn and some of the simple things you used to do will require you to write more code. On the upside, just like with ActionScript 2, the really complex things can be built with far less code and you will have more control over what happens when.

Initially AS3 may feel too formal and restrictive in that all your old beloved coding tricks may not work any more. Your days of cowboy scripting and side comments of "if I wanted to be a developer I would be a Java programmer" may look like they are numbered. However, if you made the transition to ActionScript 2 at all you more then likely are deeper into formal programming then you ever realized. Even most "designers" these days scoff at that simplicity of ActionScript 1 and going backward can be more worrisome then what lies ahead. While features like "Normal mode" and "Script assist" will always have their place, time and experience with ActionScript 3 will reveal its value to even the most skeptical. The initial flood of complexity promptly drifts away when as you realize how your approach to coding with AS3 provides better error handling, fast --intuitive parsing of data, control over loading external media and in general, the foundation to allow you to be even more creative in a dynamic ways then you ever thought possible.

Now that I have confessed my joy for AS3 and Player 9 I want to hear you have to say!

Get AS3 Preview from labs and bring me you thoughts, praise, gripes, and oh yes.. desires for Flash Player 10!

P.S. sorry for the 80s reference ;)

So who wants to work on Flex?

New jobs at Adobe:

WW020602-Developer, Flex Enterprise:

http://cooljobs.adobe.com/frameset.html?goto=er-viewjob&refnode=103511

TB010604-Senior Quality Engineer:

http://cooljobs.adobe.com/frameset.html?goto=er-viewjob&refnode=103508

LM020604-Flex Builder QE Engineer:

http://cooljobs.adobe.com/frameset.html?goto=er-viewjob&refnode=103517

SK120508-Quality Engineer:

http://cooljobs.adobe.com/frameset.html?goto=er-viewjob&refnode=103522

SK010609-Computer Scientist:

http://cooljobs.adobe.com/frameset.html?goto=er-viewjob&refnode=103549

SK120507-Computer Scientist:

http://cooljobs.adobe.com/frameset.html?goto=er-viewjob&refnode=103528

WW020603-Architect, Flex Enterprise:

http://cooljobs.adobe.com/frameset.html?goto=er-viewjob&refnode=103531

SK120506-Computer Scientist:

http://cooljobs.adobe.com/frameset.html?goto=er-viewjob&refnode=103534

HW020602-Computer Scientist - Flex Builder:

http://cooljobs.adobe.com/frameset.html?goto=er-viewjob&refnode=103537

Well spring is here, although it may not feel like it for many, and I finally got another tutorial up on DevNet

To me this article is interesting for two reasons. First, I have authored it with Loren Leed from CollegeNet, and educational solutions company in Portland, and the first time I have actually seen Loren was when his picture hit the website yesterday.

Second, this project actually began with a support call probably about a year or so ago and I think shows, at least a little, of the thought process that went into coming up with a solution to a problem we had not faced before. Loren brought his needs and perspective to the project and I brought my understanding of ActionScript to the problem. We met in the middle with our different perspectives on video and result was not just a solution that helped Loren to meet his project deadline; but an experience which really helped me to gain some understanding of Captivate and its potential fit into the grand scheme of things as a fairly recent member of the Flash family of products.

Hope you enjoy it.

http://www.macromedia.com/devnet/captivate/articles/cpvideo.html

Do you have the right stuff?

Have you experienced Flash Technical support?

What did you think?

Oh ya? Think you can do better?

Well now is your chance to prove it!

After about two and a half years in Flash Technical Support, and more then a year as the Support lead and subject matter expert in ActionScript and Application Architecture I have decided to take my experience helping users fix problems and innovate solutions to helping the Player Engineering team solve problems, innovate solutions and bring new features to the Flash Player.

That means that soon I will be looking for some new blood. You experienced coders, you quick witted, good humored Flash developers who love to think on your feet, and you hard core jack of all trades who love a never ending challenge, now is your chance to get your foot in the door and help shape the evolution of Flash and its user community.

Applicants must have nerves of steel, be passionate(or nutz) about Flash, enjoy a good party, and enjoy occasional travel, and good pool playing skills are a plus but not required. ;)

Show us what you got!

Hope you are ready for a pine forest scented geek-gasm

Well folks,

Flash Forward Seattle is just around the corner.

Yup Adobe is going all out for Flash. As I understand it we will have a stronger presence at Flash forward this year then Macromedia has had traditionally. I think that Flash being the new kid on the block in CS2 has created a lot of excitement and enthusiasm in the upper ranks. Bring you ideas, questions, and your feature requests!

Hope to see ya there.

So I just finished my first shift at MAC World SF and can I just say, WOW what a turn out

This is my first time at MAC World. Normally you will find me at Max or Flash Forward. But this year is pretty important to have our meet and greets to get to know all of the customers from both sides of the fence and my favorite jack of all trades whose best talents straddle it.

I have to say it was a rather huge contrast from predominantly large number of web developers I normally talk with. I got to shake hands with a lot of video professionals and photographers who could not wait to bring their content to the web in Flash.

Normally at the traditionally Macromedia centric conferences I would meet only a few first time users of Flash, often users who just specialized in other in other tools or server products. But at MAC World, I met some surprising number of users who seemed to be just learning about Flash now because now it comes in the web bundle. For some users it seemed that showing just a hand full of the new design features felt a little like opening some your Christmas gifts a day early.

A good number of experienced Flash users had some impressive ideas for new features and feed back on how the Adobe and Macromedia products could work in the future and were overjoyed to see the first of Adobe products available on macromedia labs. (Literoom)

There were even some inquires and buzz about Flash Lite despite the Flash Lite 2.0 beta update only being available on windows.

Before we became Adobe I knew it would open up a world of new opportunities for our technology and our users. However the enthusiasm and the electric atmosphere at MAC World was beyond my expectation so soon after being acquired.

Flash Lite 2 Update!!!!

You hoped. You dreamed, and now it’s finally happened. HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Flash Lite 2 Update for Flash Professional 8 is completely LIVE on Labs!

http://labs.macromedia.com

Can’t wait to see what you do with it.

So it’s that time of year and it looks like Adobe got its holiday gift early. Macromedia

It’s been a rough ride for most but we will go into next year as a combined company. And since the dust is starting to settle (no snow in San Jose or San Francisco) we can start thinking about some new years resolutions.

Things you would like to see improve in our existing combined products, and maybe new products you would like to see.

But no need to limit it to that; after all I am a support engineer. Many of you guys have experienced forums and support service from both companies. We are going to need your input to help us continue with best of both worlds going forward.

Well I am off.

Happy Holidays, and see you next year!

So you got a gig with Uncle Sam and the first thing he tells you is your Flash App must be 508 , “Accessibility Compliant“?

If you are like some developers you may have never heard of such thing and could be a bit worried about not being able to deliver on your first big gov gig.

If you have had to make web sites 508 compliant and used tools like Bobby http://www.mardiros.net/bobby-accessibility-tool.html to help you make accessible content in the past you still may be scratching your head as to how to do this with Flash. After all Flash is still well known for its visuals; well don't fret. Flash content is 508 compliant if you make use of the accessibility features and after a little bit of reading you will be well on your way.

]]> My recommendation is that you start here:
http://www.macromedia.com/resources/accessibility/

Just about everything you need to know about 508 compliance and Flash can be found on the Accessibility Resource Center.

Outside of this material I can offer some simple but sound advice:

First you should consider this fundamental concept. Unless you use screen reader software on you computer to actually navigate and run software, you probably don't know how to use something like Jaws and you probably have no concept of what good usability looks like for someone who does.

If you want your application to be compliant, just following the documentation will get you there. If you want the application to be well designed for the visually impaired, then you should get yourself an individual intimately familiar with screen reader software to help you test and design your application.

Now this is not just about design and usability. To insure your application is compliant you will no doubt want to test it and be certain you can navigate to anything on the stage, the different states of your application and that any text you have displayed can be read. This seems simple enough but most of the support calls we receive from developers regarding accessibility are not because they did not successfully make their Flash application accessible but that they did not know how to use the screen reader software to enable them to properly navigate and read the Flash content.

For example, Imagine yourself just a day or two away from your publish deadline and you attempts to test for 508 compliant thwarted by a seemingly impossible bug. The second you turn on the screen reader software you can't navigate the Flash application with the keyboard! Don't panic, just see this technote: JAWS disables keyboard navigation in Flash movies and don't just think, but know that just because it may not make intuitive sense to you does not mean that anything is broken. The inverse also applies; just because you can navigate it well, it does not mean your target audience will have an easy time of things.

Talk about your stressful situations. Unless you want to drive yourself mad, don't ever leave anything that is a "requirement" to the last minute. I suggest before you begin spend a few weeks getting to know the ins and outs of supported screen readers, looking at examples of accessible sites and using the screen reader to navigate not just Flash applications but generally around the internet. That will be the next best thing to having an expert on you team and can go a long way towards less sleepless nights and more business from Uncle Sam in the future.

As I have said before, test early and test often. Although in the case of Accessibility you want to give yourself time to learn what is essentially an unfamiliar medium give yourself a standard by which to validate the quality and functionality of your applications.

For more resources on Accessibility and 508 compliance try these links:

Good luck.