waffle

JavaFX. Silverlight. Spare me.

Okay. Let’s hear it. Let’s hear how you will revolutionize the web. Let’s hear how you will throw previous boundaries to the wind like so many folding chairs in action film stock explosions. Let’s hear how web designers will build altars to their greatness and flexibility, how programmers will marvel at the mindboggling acuity of your architectures and how “end users” will be left stunned, eyes wide open and drooling at the magnificant creations.

Let’s hear what puts your particular newly invented, unpopular proprietary solution ahead of the other proprietary solutions. Let’s hear why your solution won’t pathologically fail like previous initiatives that built on the premise that we need one more way to fling boxes across the screen and that this way has to be powered by a newly introduced browser plugin. Let’s hear how you plan to approach the wonder of Flash in terms of installed base, ubiquity and sheer pop culture influence. Let’s hear what your product will actually add to people’s web experience.

The technical merits behind these products are not lost on me. The Dynamic Language Runtime shows that Microsoft is willing to take the .NET platform somewhere that doesn’t involve turning every language into a lesser C#. That Java is now “Free Software” and that Sun knows how badly the Java language is still sucking in some aspects and is willing to continue taking steps to prevent that is also positive.

I just think that for once, let’s stop with the bullshit about revolution and world domination until we’ve actually seen either at work. Adobe Flash has so much of a head start in all aspects, it’s like it’s a quantum computer and Microsoft and Sun are trying desperately to score a beer with Babbage.