[REBOL] Re: IOS and presentations with Audio
From: gscottjones:mchsi at: 22-Oct-2002 14:24
> Brock Kalef wrote:
>
> >A future look at what IOS could include if/when Multi-media Reblets are
> >made available.
> > http://www.accerra.com
From: "Petr Krenzelok"
> Not heard of that one, but company that tells me that I need newer IE
> just pisses me so much, that I will never ever bother to visit once
> again. PPL should wake up - the world is not MS, period! Most ppl I know
> use Mozilla already anyway (as I push them to do so ... :-)
...
Hi, Petr,
You are so shy about sharing your opinion. Maybe you will overcome that
shyness one day!
:-)
I agree that it can be very upsetting to browse to a website only to be
told
what I need to do: need IE 6.x, need JavaScript 1.5xxx, need flash
6.x enabled. When I am just browsing, it can be frustrating. The _web_
should be _universal_, at least for general browsing purposes.
But your comment reminds me of a parallel coincidence (if not even a bit
ironic) that Reblets in _web_ pages, too, present a road block to general
web browsing. We are (or at least I am) sold on how neat it would be to
seamlessly have Reblets displaying extra functionality within a web page,
but it requires the hypothetical-and-unlikely-to-ever-surface-again REBOL
plug-in viewer. For general browsing/viewing, we would tick-off and alienate
some casual lookers in the same way you felt alienated when asked to get IE
6.0. Some would be curious and download the REBOL viewer plug-in, but most
would just move on to greener web pages.
I chalk this up to a paradigm issue. Web pages are for web browsing and
should be as neutral as possible (like looking through a "free" newspaper).
REBOL's leverage is not in the web space, but in the Internet space. I
remind myself that while many leave JavaScript and Flash enabled for general
browsing, those two programs are exceptional in that they hit the web space
at just the right time for them to be incorporated as _almost_ being a part
of the web. But in my mind they are not. Java's prime hit a smidge too
late and was excessively hampered by compatibility issues. Curl, and all
the rest, are fighting the very same issues that REBOL has struggled with.
I believe that all factors considered that RT probably made the right
decision in not getting too hung up on providing a browser plug-in. It
would have been nice, but may not have helped enough to offset the cost of
resources necessary to make it happen for Netscape compatibility and IE 5.5
and up compatibility.
REBOL is fighting in a competitive space. I think that one of the best
advantages that REBOL offers is shear simplicity compared to many other
solutions. Web browsing has gone through its rapid growth phase. I suspect
that it has entered into a maturing phase allowing for better device
independent access (likely through CSS). Mozilla and Opera may well force
MS to support the standards, but even that is not a given.
I think that as people get more comfortable with Internet access and web
browsing, that they will be more willing to look at solutions that leverage
the Internet, and not just the World Wide Web. The idea of downloading a
special purpose app to manage a customer relationship will not be seen as
that onerous. This point was driven home to me when eBay recently decided
to forego their listing access for power sellers via an XML-ish solution and
switch to API access only. The casual seller can still use the web-based
sell listing form, but their special purpose software requires using the
API. Interesting, and I guess that represents *their* vote on the "generic"
semantic benefit of XML when used in enterprise solutions.
www.wired.com just went all css. This sort of move likely represents a
water-shed event for other sites. In the US, as more and more people with
disabilities sue corporations for the inaccessibility of their websites,
more and more companies will make the leap to what promises to be a simpler
solution while being more widely readable (handhelds, cellular phones, etc).
I have been wondering whether eBay making this huge decision may serve as a
water-shed event for other companies who need special channel access to
their suppliers and customers over the Internet to make the jump. I have
seen very little reference to this issue, but maybe it is still early yet!
It occurred to me that eBay might eventually even offer a non-browser based
solution for auction browsing. That *would* get the interest of the
pundits. I suspect that things are only just now going to get really
interesting on the Internet, and REBOL may be the most efficient way to
leverage this market. Time will tell on both accounts.
As always, I find your comments interesting and evocative. I don't mean to
sound like I am being critical of your comment (at least not critical in the
negative sense of the word). But your comment implied a likely unintended
hypocrisy that spurred me to comment. (After all, you complained on Link
that people don't respond enough to your comment, making you look like you
are alone. So here I am! :-)
Best wishes and maybe now is the time to get geared up for your off-hours
venture!
--Scott Jones