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I really hope Adobe can make the transition to a standards-based world fast enough for them to remain a significant player. It is so hard for a mega-company to

I really hope Adobe can make the transition to a standards-based world fast enough for them to remain a significant player. It is so hard for a mega-company to wean itself from the fat margins of a proprietary world they created.

wmf 15y ago
Since Adobe's fat margins were from authoring tools, presumably that opportunity still exists. AFAIK none of the existing HTML5 authoring tools are close to Flash in power.
- Riverbed 15y ago
  When you own both the authoring tools and the runtime, the world is your oyster. Sure, HTML5 authoring tools suck today, and it will be a huge boon if Adobe leads the way to the promised land. But the barriers to entry for others to then go the same way is so much lower than in Adobe's previous environment. Well, it will be very interesting ride over the next few years!
  - beej71 15y ago
    But the barriers to entry for others to then go the same way is so much lower than in Adobe's previous environment. Can you not just target Flash Player? Seems like the barrier to entry is going to be the same as Adobe's in either case, except that with Flash, Adobe must also maintain Flash Player.
    - TillE 15y ago
      Flash is not open. It's also a moving target for everyone but Adobe.
      - beej71 15y ago
        I agree, but on the HTML5 side, we have not one but several moving targets, and IE is hardly open.
georgemcbay 15y ago
They've already been making this transition for at least a year and probably planning it for even longer than that -- look at Muse, look at Edge. Adobe doesn't give a crap about the Flash Player for its own sake, it was just a loss leader for their tools business, which anyone who has been paying attention would have noticed started leaning towards html and away from Flash a while ago now.
- mcrider 15y ago
  Not to mention Phonegap, which is now an Adobe product thanks to their recent acquisition of Nitobi.

wmf 15y ago

Since Adobe's fat margins were from authoring tools, presumably that opportunity still exists. AFAIK none of the existing HTML5 authoring tools are close to Flash in power.

Riverbed 15y ago
When you own both the authoring tools and the runtime, the world is your oyster. Sure, HTML5 authoring tools suck today, and it will be a huge boon if Adobe leads the way to the promised land. But the barriers to entry for others to then go the same way is so much lower than in Adobe's previous environment. Well, it will be very interesting ride over the next few years!
- beej71 15y ago
  But the barriers to entry for others to then go the same way is so much lower than in Adobe's previous environment. Can you not just target Flash Player? Seems like the barrier to entry is going to be the same as Adobe's in either case, except that with Flash, Adobe must also maintain Flash Player.
  - TillE 15y ago
    Flash is not open. It's also a moving target for everyone but Adobe.
    - beej71 15y ago
      I agree, but on the HTML5 side, we have not one but several moving targets, and IE is hardly open.

georgemcbay 15y ago

They've already been making this transition for at least a year and probably planning it for even longer than that -- look at Muse, look at Edge. Adobe doesn't give a crap about the Flash Player for its own sake, it was just a loss leader for their tools business, which anyone who has been paying attention would have noticed started leaning towards html and away from Flash a while ago now.

mcrider 15y ago
Not to mention Phonegap, which is now an Adobe product thanks to their recent acquisition of Nitobi.