--- 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
