Avalon in relation to Apple
So the more I talk with people about Avalon and Sparkle, I start to see things differently than I originally had. Everyone seems so concerned with the MS vs Macromedia/Abobe battle, but as I said in my last post, I don't see the two technologies facing off, I see them complimenting each other (for the first few years at least).
However, after seeing all of these Avalon apps that are being built with Sparkle and realizing that the focus for Sparkle and Avalon is really the desktop and Desktop apps, the more I realize that it is Apple that should be worried, not Macromedia.
Frankly, if Sparkle is really as easy to use as the demos suggest, and if the workflow is truly that smooth, then it is likely that Microsoft won't really steal all of Macromedia's prized development community. Instead they have just opened the door and invited them in to take part in yet another Rich Experience delivery oppourtunity.
Now the result of this will be a massive leap forward in everyday desktop computing. If all of your everyday apps for email, word processing, web browsing, image editing, etc are potentially as rich as all of us could help make it, then the resulting damage would be done to Apple.
USP or Unique Selling Point. Apple's is the user experience with the OS. I have always been a Mac fan, and I believe OSX is a beautiful thing, but Avalon has the potential to remove that USP from Apple in a huge way. Applications on Windows could be so more rich and exciting than those OSX apps that we have come to love may quickly seem like something of the past.
Anyone else think that Apple may be really worried about this?
posted by Tony at 6:28 PM
7 Comments:
that is the point that I have been wanting to hear. I think that competition is good in the ria market. Macromedia has been able to sit back on its pricing. As well apple has been able to generate so much excitement in the designers area. I look forward to the advancement of the pc and the internet. I don't see having to use multiple tools as a bad thing. I will live in a hybrid world and I'm sure the skills we've been gathering will work wherever technology takes us. I'm excited.. but again, I'd like to see some zorn, cause the current component set is just not right with Flash. I still can't believe that the components aren't available to the flash dev environment. We should have access to as many components as possible. thanks.
6:55 PM
I totally agree,
I have had Mac envy ever since OSX came out and the only reason I haven't switched to it is that I have built up a nice library of windows only software that I don't want to ditch. The temptation has been growing over the years though.
I don't think it will hurt MM/Adobe at all, but it definitely calms the itch to switch, which should certainly good for MS.
I may still get that mac at some point though. And I want an operating system, not a marketing vehicle. If I feel like it's constantly proding me to buy in to some tier of marketing schemes like xp did, it could still turn me away.
Most likely this will staunch the bleeding though. And it looks to be inspiring, both from a coding and a creative perspective.
10:27 PM
That is I totally agree with Tony. As far as what Dominick said, I don't disagree, but I'm so happy with Laszlo and the progress with Actionstep and Mtasc that I can wait as long as necessary for Zorn. Generally things are just looking up.
10:37 PM
I disagree. Microsoft has a compelling interest in propping up Apple's three percent market share: it gives Microsoft something to point to when they are accused of being a monopoly. It would be dumb for MS to put Apple out of business, and I'm sure they know that.
Sparkle has the potential to annihilate Flash. Even in its pre-release form, you can see it's years ahead of Flash: 3D support, hardware acceleration, components that are actually usable, plus the ability to create fast, full-scale desktop applications, all backed up by .NET.
I do agree, though, that more competition is a good thing.
6:18 AM
I disagree with Sparkle+Avalon squashing Flash.
Avalon will make no inroads into web application development for quite some time.
Flash will still rule that arena and battle with Ajax there.
Sprakle is a Director competitor more than a Flash competitor.
6:57 AM
"Sprakle is a Director competitor more than a Flash competitor."
It will be a competitor to both. During the Manuel Clement video, he showed how easy it was to compile an app for web deployment. And it remains to be seen if Director will even still be in development two years from now.
"Flash will still rule that arena and battle with Ajax there."
Yes, for a few years. But then what? Macromedia has a big head start on its side, but Microsoft has money, resources and an OS monopoly on its side.
We've been down this road before, no?
8:31 AM
I agree with your main idea, but then again: Apple isn't know to sleep in class, are they? Avalone is 1 year away. Widespread use of the upcoming OS is at least 3 years away. by that time, Apple have been using Intel hardware for two years... Much will happen before this.
J
12:25 PM
Post a Comment
<< Home