Another week, another ten billion blog posts from people telling each other (is anyone really listening?) which technology is best. I have been watching this pattern for a long time but today I got really riled up over one that made some distorted claims about Flash.
Regardless, today's experience gave me an epiphany. Which technology is best? Simple - the one that people can use. Wasn't that like an IBM ad from two decades ago?
What made me realize this?
1. I sent over a PPT file to some guys from Microsoft. I work for Adobe but I honestly love Powerpoint. Powerpoint is a great tool and easy to use - people use it. Sure I could have sent over PDF but I didn't. I have seen Apple employees give talks using PPT instead of Keynote too.
2. I re-read part of Microsoft's XML Paper Specification and realized it is published in PDF. Right tool for the right job.
3. The guy complaining about Flash works for a company that used Flash on the front page of their company's website. I think Microsoft also still has some of the best Flash experiences on their site too.
4. I was asked internally to answer a set of customer questions about Flex vs. AJAX. I responded stating that I don't see why there even has to be a competition. Adobe loves AJAX, so do I.
Technologies that people use rock! People use technology that is the easiest choice to do the job. People use technologies they are familiar with. My mom still won't use a cell phone but has adopted the internet. People use whatever interoperates with the status quo. Without this, none of the other arguing would even be read since we would be outside doing something else instead of sitting in front of computers all day.
Hmmm - never mind.
Have a good weekend!
Friday, June 13, 2008
3 comments:
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Clap, Clap, Clap. Broavo. Well done, well said.
ReplyDeleteI know what you're getting at, and I agree with you to a large extent, but sometimes people use a certain tool because of reasons other than it being the "best". People use MS Word (or if you want to get even more plebeian, Wordpad) because it is ubiquitous. Is it the "best" word processor? Hardly! But it is what is most available.
ReplyDeleteI don't think that is acceptable, but I use a Mac. I think it is sometimes necessary to push forward changes even when there is something acceptable already in wide use.
That has always been a huge problem. The mentality of "Every problem is a hammer and every solution is a nail" runs rampant in the tech world.
ReplyDeleteSuccess and adoption speak volumes about the best tool for each job.