While Jacob Nielson makes some valid points regarding useabilty, if he had
his way from the beginning we would still be looking at pages full of
nothing but text with blue unvisited links and purple visited ones. Keep in
mind that he wrote this article in 1997; the web is a very different animal
now, and in fact many people do get on the internet to 'have an experience'
rather than to 'get something done.'
I think the contrast you're drawing between allaire and macromedia is false;
both companies have until now facilitated the growth of the web, though in
slightly different (but complementary) spheres. They have always worked
together closely and allowed their products to tie into one another.
The web is becoming an entertainment medium, but this doesn't mean it's
becoming TV. I don't think you have to worry about the web taking one
particular direction over another; it has proven itself to be very adept at
absorbing every other form of media that has come before it.
-----Original Message-----
From: Ricardo Villalobos [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
Sent: Wednesday,17 January 2001 4:32
To: CF-Server
Subject: RE: Macromedia - Allaire Merge
I am just worried about the path that the Web Design industry has followed
in the last months. Web Sites are now developed under the premise that most
of the people have a high speed connection, using huge Flash animations and
"intros" that make the Internet look more like a TV set. People on the
Internet expect to DO things, not to SEE things.
Less than 15% of the nation today has options for high-speed access, not to
mention other countries or regions, where even a 56K connection is
considered a privilege. I love using Flash on my Web Sites, but it has been
totally overused. The kind of interaction that the Internet users need and
like should come from elements created with platforms like ColdFusion.
Let me quote Jakob Nielsen, on his article "Why Advertising Doesn't Work on
the Web"
(http://www.useit.com/alertbox/9709a.html)
"The Web is very different from television: it is mainly a cognitive medium,
whereas TV is mainly an emotional medium. This makes TV much more suited for
the traditional type of advertising which is flashy and promotes superficial
qualities of products. While watching TV, people approach a vegetable state
and the main goal of a commercial is to minimize interaction by keeping the
user's hand off the remote control. As long as the user watches, you can
keep them engaged by high production values and a message that says very
little besides "we are good."
Where TV is warm, the Web is cold. It is a user-driven experience, where the
user is actively engaged in determining where to go next. The user is
usually on the Web for a purpose and is not likely to be distracted from the
goal by an advertisement (one of the main reasons click-through is so low).
This active user engagement makes the Web more cognitive, since the user has
to think about what hypertext links to click and how to navigate. This again
makes the Web less suited for purely emotional advertising. THE USER IS NOT
ON THE WEB TO "GET AN EXPERIENCE" BUT TO GET SOMETHING DONE."
This is where I don't see a connection between Allaire's philosophy and
Macromedia's philosophy. While Allaire has promoted real interaction,
Macromedia has promoted emotional animations (or at least this is how it has
been used in the last months). If this merge means that Macromedia will try
to give more importance to what the End user can achieve, this is more than
welcome.
But if, on the contrary, they try to make of the web a big TV broadcast and
don't give Allaire's products the importance they deserve, the Internet
usability as a whole will be affected. I know there is always a point right
in the middle, and I just hope that Macromedia keeps that in mind. One
really good sign is that Jeremy Allaire is joining Macromedia as the CTO.
Some times designers need engineers around =)
Best Regards!
Ricardo Villalobos
-----Original Message-----
From: Michael Dinowitz [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
Sent: Tuesday, January 16, 2001 9:03 PM
To: CF-Server
Subject: Re: Macromedia - Allaire Merge
Or you can use the CF-Stock and CF-Community lists at House of Fusion.
That's what they're there for.
> I've created an egroups discussion list for talking about the upcoming
> Allaire - Macromedia merger: http://www.egroups.com/group/AllMac
>
> Make your views known!
>
> Chris Montgomery [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
> Web Development & Consulting http://www.astutia.com
> Allaire Consulting Partner
> 210-490-3249/888-745-7603 Fax 210-490-4692
> AIM: "astutiaweb", ICQ: 7381282
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Rusty Wilson [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
> > Sent: Tuesday, January 16, 2001 6:26 PM
> > To: CF-Server
> > Subject: RE: Macromedia - Allaire Merge
> >
> >
> > perhaps a new mail list should be created - i expect this may be a big
> > topic for debate...
>
>
>
>
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