--- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com, Guy Morton guy@... wrote:
I think the only thing you should draw from this announcement is that Adobe
has given up on trying to support flash as a browser plugin on mobile
devices. I think they have seen that a) performance is an issue they may
struggle to fix while maintaining compatibility and b) there is market
resistance to plugins on mobile platforms (see the Windows 8 Metro
plugin-less IE as the final domino to fall there).
While a) and b) make sense, they don't seem to realise/acknowledge that this
really kills any new project targetting the Flash Player at all.
Flash is now in decline as a plugin technology. It will continue for a good
few years yet, but it is trending downwards. Because its life as a plugin is
drawing to an end, Adobe is seeking to reshape Flash as an app-building tool.
This makes perfect sense, and if they do it well, they could manage to make
an army of Flash/flex developers into app developers, which is not all bad.
If this _really_ is the strategy, and I hope it is, then great - I've already
started building a mobile Flash app. But with the terrible way they have
handled this, and open sourcing Flex but not Flash, and all the layoffs and
community outrage, I'm worried they may have killed the whole ecosystem - in
perception if not reality (which will follow perception).
Adobe has read the writing on the wall and is putting a lot of effort into
re-shaping themselves as the tool provider for HTML5. Certainly there is a
need for great tools in this area, so I hope they succeed in doing this.
AIR could be a much better and unique product (there is nothing better) for
cross-platform mobile apps (a huge market) than PhoneGap/HTML5, if they take it
seriously. But are they?
Also they may lose the HTML5 tools race, and many HTML developers I know don't
even use many tools. Designers of course still need Ps,Ai etc. I can see Adobe
losing their developer audience alltogether without some radically positive
moves.
For career security I'm learning JS, but I hope to continue with building
mobile AIR apps with confidence.
Gary
