8 ms·
No one wants to install yet another unused technology (Silverlight) for an unknown new product.
by drhowarddrfine 18y ago
No one wants to install yet another unused technology (Silverlight) for an unknown new product.
- pclark 18y agowell I just did, so erm, yeah.
- axod 18y agoI believe in this case, "no one" = most people. You apparently aren't most people.
- pclark 18y agoso if you found a great application that perfectly matched your needs, you wouldn't use it purely because it required installing software on your computer?
- staunch 18y agoThe real scenario is: Two companies make similar software that fulfills your need. One requires a download and the other doesn't. Who wins?
- pclark 18y agothe one thats cheaper
- staunch 18y agoTake "similar software" to mean all things being roughly equivalent, including price. Jeez.
- axod 18y agoThat's also untrue. If one was cheaper, but required me to install some desktop software, I'd happily pay the extra to have the better solution.
- cmos 18y agoI'm pretty sure I had to download silverlight to watch netflix movies on my Mac.
- stormideas 18y agoNetflix are using Silverlight for their streaming service, see http://netflix.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=43&item=288 http://netflix.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=43&item=288 for details.
- staunch 18y agoNot a good example. Netflix would have chosen Flash probably if it wasn't for a special deal with Microsoft. They traded something in exchange for choosing an inferior solution (inferior in that it requires a download).
- axod 18y agoYes. I'm betting against installable software. The whole point of a collaboration type app, is that you can use it from anywhere - your laptop, desktop, iphone, nokia, netbook, internet cafe, library, wii, etc etc Requiring a user install some software negates the whole point for me.
- stormideas 18y agoI'm also betting against installable software (Silverlight plugins excepted!). You just need to look at Joost's traffic since they went web-based rather than desktop client: http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/01/08/joost-has-a-heartbeat/ http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/01/08/joost-has-a-heartbeat/ I'm hopefull that over the coming months / years Microsoft manage to get Silverlight out there and available on as many platforms as possible, allowing me to write applications that can take advantage of that reach. In the meantime the aim is to start building up enough user numbers to create a viable business, I've got very low overheads and no debt so hopefully that can come from the existing Silverlight install base + people who are willing to install it if they think the application will do a job for them.
- axod 18y agoSure, what I could see of the app, and design looked very good. So congrats on that. Good luck with it :)
- Angostura 18y agoI believe in this case "most people" = some people.
- stormideas 18y agoI took the decision to develop using Silverlight becuase I've got a strong background in using the Microsoft stack for development, wanted to get in on the ground floor with a new technology and follow it as it matures and becuase I wanted to (try!) to produce a richer user experience within the browser. As I said, I understand that this is going to be a limiting factor in some regards, but I couldn't have built what I did in any other technology (that's not to say that someone else couldn't have, just for my particular circumstances). I'm hopeful that as Silverlight adoption increases this will become less of a problem, I'm also hopeful that colaab may act as a showcase for my Silverlight abilities and lead to further contract work, which in turn can help to fund product development. Thanks for the feedback!
- ttrashh 18y agoWhere do you live? I'll hire you ;)
- mattmaroon 18y agoSilverlight will be bundled into all versions of Windows from now on so you won't have to worry about adoption.
- axod 18y agoWill that work in firefox/safari/opera on windows? Also, the web isn't composed of windows machines. It's a mishmash of a billion different devices. The vast majority of which, know html, javascript, and not much else. Seems a bad idea to only write for a small subset of them.
- axod 18y agoInterestingly, I have silverlight installed on my macbook (Until later today probably when I uninstall it). The reason being, earlier this month I bought an xbox360 (There is no choice, be stupid and spend a ton on a ps3 with its ridiculous bluray, or be stupid and spend less on an xbo360).... I bought the lips game, and went to lips.com to see what songs you can buy. It requires silverlight... for a list of songs. I installed it reluctantly, and in the most hideously badly rendered font you can imagine, it said "Song list coming soon".
- andr 18y agoIt takes a few startups to jump in and push Silverlight into popularity. IMHO, it is a better and more open RIA technology than Flash, so I'm happy to see it used! (Although, you don't have to use it everywhere. The signup form didn't need it, for example).
- stormideas 18y agoAha, yes. I got a bit carried away there. Currently redeveloping in ASP.NET MVC as a more standard web form!
- halo 18y ago>IMHO, it is a better and more open RIA technology than Flash A lesser evil is still an evil.
- andr 18y agoWhat does that even mean?
- halo 18y agoSilverlight being better than Flash doesn't logically conclude to making Silverlight a good idea and deserving of support. A lesser evil is still an evil. I consider the fact that Flash is pretty terrible a feature, as at least is helps discourage people from only using it in places where it's absolutely essential. I firmly believe RIAs are a fundamentally bad idea and the quicker they are replaced with open standards the better.
- mattmaroon 18y agoIt only takes MS bundling it to make it popular on the client end.