Jim Phelan

Not long ago developers and IT professionals looked at Flash with disdain. The anti-Flash camp had contempt for its lack of accessibility, minimal standards compliance, and of course there was the infamous back button debacle. But things have changed. Large companies are embracing Flash for rich media delivery. Developers are jumping on the bandwagon in swarms. In the last year there's been an explosion in Flash development tools, including several full-featured development environments and a homespun SWF compiler or two. Flash video suddenly seems to be everywhere, and if you're not talking about AJAX you're talking about rich Internet applications with Flash. So, now that we're confident that Flash is here for the long haul, the question becomes: Is Actionscript coming along for the ride? Recently, a flurry of developer tools has made Flash development a more att... (more)

Open Source and the Flash Platform: What Should Adobe Do Next?

Open source must in some way present itself as a bit of a dichotomy to Adobe, now that it has acquired Macromedia. It is generally accepted that open source solutions foster innovation and adoption. However, with an open file format and a free player, is it possible that some projects could eventually challenge Flash's own role by creating competing tools? Jim Phelan writes: In a major repositioning effort in June of 2005, Macromedia - now Adobe - unveiled the "Flash Platform." The conception of Flash, the company had decided, needed to change: Flash had evolved from a tool for ... (more)

The OSFlash Initiative: Web Developer's & Designer's Journal Interviews Aral Balkan

Newly appointed Web Developer's & Designer's Journal Editorial Board member Aral Balkan (pictured) - of OSFlash.org - answers a few brief questions about the amazing promise that the Flash Platform holds in the age of Web 2.0 and the role that Balkan sees for open-source Flash in that equation.  What is OSFlash? Aral Balkan: OSFlash is home of the Open Source Flash community. It is a watering hole for open source developers to meet, talk about, and contribute to new and existing open source projects for the Flash Platform. Is OSFlash a Website or is it an initiative? AB: It's an ... (more)

WebDDJ Feature: Open Source and the Flash Platform

Newly appointed Web Developer's & Designer's Journal Editorial Board Member Jim Phelan writes: OSFlash, MTASC, FlashDevelop, Red5, FlexUnit...This article from WebDDJ vol 3 no 5 looks at a welter of initiatives that testify to the growth of the Flash Platform. In a major repositioning effort in June of 2005, Macromedia (now, of course Adobe, but then still an independent company) unveiled the "Flash Platform." The conception of Flash, the company had decided, needed to change: Flash had evolved from a tool for designers to an interoperating set of technologies appropriate for Web... (more)

The "Outside the Box" Technology

Anyone who regularly visits Macromedia's Web site has inevitably seen the Red Bull Copilot and Volvo V50 Web sites. These elegantly crafted applications are perfect examples to make the case for Flash video: they combine the rich user experience of a Flash application seamlessly with high quality streaming video. Macromedia purports Flash video to be a technology that is "outside the box," implying that it can be integrated gracefully with a Web site or Flash application without a stale, uninspired video player surrounding it. Aside from the other major benefits of video in Flas... (more)