Tony MacDonell Archives

Recently by Tony MacDonell

The Abstract Sanctuary

Tony MacDonell
March 27, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (0)

There still seems to be a battle to be had about the future of computing in the browser vs. on the desktop. With a little bit of terminology change, and a slightly different perspective, it becomes clear that these two environments for running software are co-evolving, not competing for attention.

tags:
air
desktop

The View Source Dilemma

Tony MacDonell
March 21, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (13)

I have been thinking about the current state of the "View Source" option that the web has so radically benefited from. With the Flash Player and it's radical success over the last ten years, it may be time to ask why we are so ready to part with the "View Source" command that we have become used to in the browser. For years we have all been focused on our creations in Flash, so stunning, and compelling has the work been that it's need to be freely available to the masses as source has certainly fallen to the wayside.

To Conquer Form Factor

Tony MacDonell
February 25, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (3)

This platform released today provides an effective solution for slaying one dragon, but a much scarier dragon lurks atop the mountain I call form factor. The danger is in thinking that we have a platform for developing universal experiences, when the truth is, that we have a platform that provides us with a universal runtime to build experiences upon. Just because your code is cross-platform, doesn't mean that your experience is.

The Supply and Demand of Experience

Tony MacDonell
January 30, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (6)

So if we are talking about supply and demand we have to define the two sides of the equation. The demand side is outside-in, it is the emergence of an "Experience Oriented Market" within a vertical. The supply side is inside-out, and it is called Design Maturity.

tags:
design
ria

Whose Coat is this Jacket?

Tony MacDonell
January 26, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (5)

The reason I say "Whose Coat is this Jacket" is because if everyone uses the term application or website to describe everything, then it really means nothing at all. That gives us no basis on which to form judgment on whether or not deploying rich user interfaces makes sense. Without a hard definition of "true functionality", we are unequipped to create any kind of real distinction between the two terms to try and make sense of it all.

There's a Forklift in my Toolbox!

Tony MacDonell
January 22, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (7)

Recently, Jakob wrote a column titled "Web 2.0 Can Be Dangerous". This is another one of those columns designed to get people stirred up. It addresses some of the components of the Web 2.0 movement including: rich internet applications, social networking, mashups, and advertising based business models. He builds an argument that claims that companies should not get caught up in the hype surrounding Web 2.0 while working with their current web properties. They should instead focus on getting the fundamentals, or the Web 1.0 features perfect.

tags:
design
web 2.0

The RIA Elevator Speech

Tony MacDonell
January 20, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (5)

Almost everyone in the tech industry is familiar with the concept of an "Elevator Speech". You meet someone for the first time, they ask you what you do, and your job is to very quickly explain it. Who knows, it may be a potential client you're talking to, so you have to make sure what you say is precise, exciting, and positions you as an expert in their eyes.

tags:
design
ria

Without the why we are powerless

Tony MacDonell
January 15, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (0)

There is a vision for the Rich Internet Applications out there in the industry, but now that many players are coming into the arena, that vision is blurring, and the concept ends up being anything anyone wants it to be.

Using Flash Remoting for Authentication to your AFCS/Facebook AIR Application
Russ Ferguson

If you have had an opportunity to look at the Adobe Flash Collaboration Service (AFCS) you could see that there is a huge opportunity to do interesting multi-user applications without needing to write all of the server side code. However... Continue Reading
Decorator Design Pattern
Sean Moore

Overview Purpose of this article The goal of this article is to help you gain a better understanding of the Decorator design pattern. The Decorator pattern is used to attach additional responsibilities to an object at run time dynamically. Decorators... Continue Reading
Flash to iPhone
Veronique Brossier

The proliferation of cellular phones has revolutionized the way we communicate with one another and is the foundation for a more mobile lifestyle. Adobe, a long time player in rich internet applications, wanted to, once again, be an active participant.... Continue Reading
AIR 2 Enhancements Complete Overview
Elad Elrom

Adobe just released public information about AIR 2.0 and added new capabilities that better tie with the operation systems which gives your application more control while increasing performance. The new version will be deployed on Flash player 10 using Flex... Continue Reading

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O’Reilly: Inside RIA

Recently by Tony MacDonell

The Abstract Sanctuary

The View Source Dilemma

To Conquer Form Factor

The Supply and Demand of Experience

Whose Coat is this Jacket?

There's a Forklift in my Toolbox!

The RIA Elevator Speech

Without the why we are powerless

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