SOME RANDOM DUDE

Silverlight has been quite the buzz around the internet lately. Microsoft’s new product explicitly takes aim at Flash as they try to take on the rich media arena. Up to this point, Flash has basically stood alone at the top as the rich media standard for the browser. I will explain why, from my point of view, I do not see Silverlight changing that reality any time in the near (or far) future.

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For the few people out there still questioning the validity of Flash video as the best, if not only, solution for the web, you have to watch this. Make sure to click the ‘Maximize’ button in the top-left corner in order to see what I mean. Flash applications built in Actionscript 3 allow for a fullscreen mode - allowing things such as video to be viewed in a much more traditional, theatrical manner. Surprisingly high-quality video can now be easily viewed over the web with no server-side streaming software - allowing anyone with ample bandwidth to provide video to its audience.

This ability for rich media experiences to be delivered on the cheap is one more reason that: 1) Flash (or perhaps another future rich media delivery system) is going to become an even more integral part of the web/browser experience, and, 2) The TV, in its current form, is becoming more obsolete by the day. We all saw this coming, I am just utterly blown away at the pace that it is occurring. If you thought the public liked web video before, just wait until the next batch of video players to hit the scene that take advantage of all the features Flash 9/Actionscript 3 have to offer. It will make the current phenomenon look pitiful in comparison.

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I stumbled upon a great actionscript blog and discovered a pretty amazing Actionscript 3 Flash application. Simply, it dynamically encodes a JPEG from a playing FLV (Flash video) file and allows you to either save it to the server or to your own computer. Have a look at the project page for more details. This is just one small yet very cool reason why Actionscript 3 is going to dramatically change what can be done on the web. I have begun to slowly delve into AS3 and I am pretty amazed at the possibilities.

Not to beat a dead horse, but anti-flash standardistas, try doing that with AJAX.

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