The title is a sweeping statement that Aral himself admits is an attention-grabber more than anything. But, Aral’s real point is that many Flash developers haven’t a clue what’s going on in “our” world of web standards, web apps (Flickr, Twitter, Upcoming, etc.), mashups, and so forth. Obviously there are exceptions, but my experience suggests that Aral is mostly correct here. The flip side, of course, is that most of us have almost no clue what is going on in their world of brand experiences, web-based games, and web video.
That’s okay — not everyone needs to know everything. But, I do think a better understanding of the “other” technology from both camps would go a long way towards promoting a more rich web. I’ve been saying it over and over, but these two camps really need to stop being so separate and get together on things more often.
001 // Nathan Heleine // 05.14.2007 // 11:40 PM
I appreciate your thoughts here Jeff. Being part of a crew that strives for a successful marriage of web standards and Flash (when appropriate), I couldn’t agree more that we all need to learn to get along on this issue. Our company was Flash-heavy simply because that’s the knowledge base we came from…but a few years back we saw what was happening, our own browsing habits changed, and we actively pursued a more balanced approach to design and development.
While I agree with some of the points Aral makes, I don’t really see how continuing to instigate this tired argument between camps can possibly help to make the web a better place. Let’s move on.