For today’s post, we have a guest writer—Keith Donnan (our Technology Solutions Developer)—who just returned from the 2007 AdobeMAX show in Chicago where he was able to check out current and future solutions from Adobe. Take it away, Keith!
There was an incredible amount of software, technologies, and services to absorb. For the purposes of this update, we will focus on developments that affect e-learning, collaboration, and content delivery.
First, the message from Adobe regarding web-delivered content is:
1. Content is King—focus on content first; interaction flows from the content
2. Make the user experience personal
3. Less is (still) more—keep it simple
4. Movement has meaning; it provides orientation
5. Create an experience, not a user interface
The Adobe technologies that received the largest focus were:
• Adobe Integrated Runtime (AIR)—using existing web technologies to build a desktop application with web connectivity. Interestingly, there were over 300,000 downloads of AIR Beta on the first day it was available.
• Flash Player—supporting web video delivery better than ever. Currently 70% of video over the web is Flash video or .FLV files. A new version of Flash will be available in early 2008.
• Action Script 3.0—used in Flash and Flex (see below); a full programming language for the web. Delivers intricate yet efficient user experiences.
• Adobe Connect—Adobe’s web conference offering will shortly be completely modularized allowing the web developer to include any or all Connect components in their web applications. For example, the Adobe Connect chat window could be embedded inside an e-learning course allowing synchronous chat with other learners or experts without having to formally join a full Adobe Connect session.
• Flex 3—will be released shortly to provide an improved development environment for web applications.
Some exciting new developments to look forward to:
• Adobe has purchased Buzzword and will be offering Buzzword as an on-line (Word compatible) shared document development tool. Teams will be able to work on documents together in real time!
• Adobe is working on a document sharing service, currently called Share, for controlled sharing of documents with designated individuals. Features could include 1 gigabyte of online storage, extensive sharing controls, secure document access, and the ability to have documents expire (i.e., become unusable) after specific dates—even after a user downloads the document.
Overall, my experience at AdobeMAX 2007 was very positive and the future bodes well for how Adobe’s products will help collaboration, content delivery, and e-learning efforts. After speaking with product development people from Adobe, the impression is that Adobe has increased funding of its product development efforts and that the employees are excited about the future of the company. Adobe’s products continue to be amongst the best in the marketplace and moving to Action Script 3.0 has provided a much improved foundation for Adobe’s web technologies and tools. Looking ahead, I eagerly anticipate developing AIR-based projects, and providing the next generation of user experience with Adobe’s tools.
- Keith
Copyright Keith Donnan 2007. All Rights Reserved.
Performance Associates, Inc.
