The FlashCanon

A couple of days after writing my post about wanting to inform people about what Flash really is capable of, I read this article from Dan Richman and followed up with two things: this post and an email to Mr. Richman to let him know how much Flash has grown over the years. We exchanged a few emails in which Mr. Richman pointed out that I had not given any examples to back up my Flash RIA claims. I gathered up a few links and sent them over to him (I’ve included those links below). Well, much earlier this evening I got an email from Mr. Richman telling me to check out tomorrow’s story at seattlepi.com and that he hoped it addressed my concerns.

Since I’m still up working on things after midnight, I figured I’d go see if the article was up. Sure enough, it is live. Check it out when you get a chance. He’s got some nice quotes from Mike Downey in there.

“Flash is it. This is the future.”

So a big ‘ol fat thank you to Dan Richman at seattlepi.com for making a move to inform!!

Oh, almost forgot the links. Post some more Flash RIAs here if you know of some good ones.

imagevuex: much like flickr, but built with Flash

vyew: real-time collaboration platform

Pandora: Try searching for your favorite musical artist

Landscape irrigation scheduling calculator

goowy

osflash: not an RIA itself, but a place to collaborate with others on them

And finally, Macrodobe’s own list of RIA examples

Now let me fill in the middle of that quote:
“Like it or hate it, Flash — the leading technology for animating Web sites, making them quirky and fun, or distracting and slow to load — is increasing in popularity.”

That is how Dan Richman decided was the best way to start his article entitled “Online media tool not a Flash in pan” on seattlepi.com. Dan’s article is about FlashForward 2006 and “the largest crowd to attend the show since 2001.”

Now, let me point back to my last post when I quote Mr. Richman again as saying, “making them quirky and fun, or distracting and slow to load.” These are the people I’m talking about having the wrong perception of Flash. And this one is a journalist. Someone who has the power to add to the common, everyday Internet user’s perception. After I finish writing this post, I plan on sending Mr. Richman an email to try and inform him of his all-too-common misconception of Flash.

I do realize that Mr. Richman is pointing out that Flash is growing, but to start the article with “making them quirky and fun, or distracting and slow to load” just kicked me back to what I was saying before. Let me point out that this is not by any means a personal attack on you, Mr. Richman, but if you happen to follow the link to this post in my email, please do some research on Flash, ActionScript, Flex and how they go hand-in-hand with the term “Rich Internet Application.” By the way, I’m glad to see that after being around for 10 years, Flash is “not a Flash in pan.”

The question: “Does open source enable the growth of the Flash Platform?”
I’ve always had certain feelings (mostly the mixed kind) about the Flash Platform and Open Source. And I’ve always known that my vague opinion was based mostly on a lack of the proper knowledge (ignorance if you will) on the subject. Well, I feel a little bit closer to that knowledge now thanks to this article from SYS-CON ITALIA.

“The conception of Flash, the company had decided, needed to change: Flash had evolved from a tool for designers to an interoperating set of technologies appropriate for web application development. The time had come to abandon Flash’s winsome singularity and start talking in terms of solutions rather than products.”

The article goes on to talk about different developers such as Aral Balkan and Edwin can Rijkom, author of Screenweaver, who “went as far as to call Macromedia his mothership.” You’ll also find mention of names like Mike Chambers and Kevin Lynch. Then, toward the bottom of page one and on to page two, you’ll find their “Round-Up of FlashOS Initiatives” which I’ve started using as a list of places and projects to get more informed on this subject.

So back to the question: Does open source enable the growth of the Flash Platform?
It sure does seem that way to me.

VitalStream, Inc. (OTCBB:VSTH), the world leader in video streaming, has added podcasting to its Content Delivery Service product line, empowering VitalStream customers to deliver audio and video podcasts for immediate playback on portable devices and desktop media players.

Read the full article here.

On2 Technologies, Inc. (AMEX: ONT), today announced that it has signed a licensing agreement with IFILM to provide Flash 8 video encoding to the leading video entertainment destination. Through the deal, IFILM is licensing On2’s Flix Engine for use across its site.

Read the full article here.

This seems pretty cool to me. If a small or mid-tier publisher would like to digitize their magazine, they now have that option thanks to the ‘iDigital Edition‘ Digital Magazine Publishing Solution. I only had a second to skim this article, but it looks like the publisher can use iDigital Edition to turn print-ready PDFs into an online version of their magazine which, by the way, is in Flash format.

With the iDigital Edition format subscribers or visitors can view the online magazines without being required to install proprietary client digital reader software or download large files to their PC. The digital magazine Flash format insures that availability will continue to dominate other digital publishing software formats and provides the greatest future technology functionality capabilities. According to the September 2005 NPD Research study (http://www.macromedia.com/software/player_census/flashplayer/), 97.3% of web users have Flash pre-installed and can experience Macromedia Flash content without having to download and install a player.

Check out the article on eMediaWire.

Here’s a nice little article from Malaysia’s The Star Online : TechCentral that talks about the Flash Player, Flash Lite and a little something code-named “Apollo”. In short, it’s all about Macromedia making one thing very clear: the Flash platform is not going to stay exclusively in web browsers.

…Its ambitions are bolstered by the success of Macromedia Flash Player 8, which recorded more than 100 million downloads since its release this September, as well as 1.5 million downloads of Studio 8 trials, the company claimed…

…Apollo is the codename for what Macromedia calls “The Universal Client”, a browser-independent client that supports both HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) and Flash.

Other features of Apollo include the ability to work online or offline, data synchronisation, desktop integration, notifications and single-click installations…

With the skies getting more and more crowded every day, Australian government-owned air traffic regulator Airservices Australia is making a move to improve awareness of the tightly controlled airspace over Australia’s main airports… and they are doing it with tools such as Macromedia Flash.

…the website was built using common tools such as Macromedia’s Flash, Dreamweaver, Fireworks and Freehand…

…the project recently beat another from Florida’s Dade County Police Department to win the 2005 Macromedia MAX award in the government category…

…Virtual views from the control tower are being added, as is Flash video, audio of pilots speaking, and cockpit views…

Check out the article and the “Flying Around” website.

“Rapid Intake Inc. (http://www.rapidintake.com), publishers of the eLearning Developer Series line of books, has been selected by Macromedia to support and enhance Macromedia’s learning extensions to Dreamweaver and Flash. Dreamweaver and Flash are two of the most widely used tools to design and develop online content. The learning extensions to these products make it easier for e-learning developers to create online interactive activities for instructional and educational purposes.”

Full Story

“Incremental update fixes flaws involving Flash Player, Linux and Unix.”

The first problem relates to Flash Player and was made public earlier in November. Macromedia warned that the bug in Flash Player, one of the most widely used pieces of software on the desktop, could allow attackers to take over a system.

The security research firm co-credited with discovering the bug, eEye, said it had demonstrated “reliable exploitation” using the bug in the Internet Explorer browser, but other browsers are also said to be just as open to attack.

Opera’s fix arrived this week with Opera 8.5.1, which includes Flash Player version 7r61, fixing the problem. Opera 8.5 was released in the spring.

Read the PCWorld.com article here.