I’ve always been pretty up front about the fact that I think there are some benefits to 3D interfaces. It’s one of the reasons that I dig Windows Presentation Foundation. I think the British Library application is a great example of how 3D rich internet applications can really enhance an experience. But I want to stress that there are also a lot of BAD 3D experiences and that I’m aware of them. 3D Mailbox is the perfect example. I have enough trouble getting through email as it is, I don’t want some whizbang fluff that keeps me from being productive.

Now, I can imagine that a lot of you are thinking to yourselves right now “exactly Ryan! That’s what we don’t like about any RIA!” And you’re right. I don’t encourage richness just for the sake of richness. I just think that richer experiences can also be *better* experiences and make you more productive. In some cases, richness will just get in the way (see above). The key is finding a good balance, which is why I like discussing the topic so much.

[tags]rich internet applications, richness, productivity, 3D mailbox[/tags]

Ted Patrick posted a chat application tonight that lets you connect to the live video feed on the bus and includes a chat feature so you can talk to us and anyone else who is running the app. We tested it a bit tonight and I’m really excited. I can’t wait to check it out on the trip to Denver. I may even do some robot chicken action for you. It’s built with AIR (what else), but Ted is also using Amazon’s EC2.

[tags]onairtour2007[/tags]

Channel 10 has a video up that you should check out if you haven’t seen Silverlight Airlines. I first saw this demo at MIX this year and I think it’s a really, really good demo. Part of the reason is because I think it does for travel sites what Google Maps did for mapping applications. We were all so impressed with the fact that we could do maps on a screen with MapQuest that we didn’t realize how terrible the experience was until Google Maps came along. That gigantic perception shift arguably helped usher in the huge adoption of Ajax that we see today.

Silverlight Airlines is just a proof of concept, and not an actual site, but it does show off what you can do with RIAs and how you can take a current web experience and make it better. The demo is available to download, but for some reason I can’t get Silverlight to work on my Mac, so I don’t have any screenshots. If you’re in the same boat I am, take a look at the video. I think you’ll be really impressed.

[tags]Silverlight, Silverlight Airlines, Rich Internet Applications[/tags]

I just caught a blog over at Fortune.com that talks about Pownce and Adobe AIR and what this means for the software industry. My favorite quote is this one

The arrival of AIR, and a whole family of other new technologies, means, of course, that all the things we’ve gotten used to such as Microsoft Office (MSFT) or even, say, Yahoo Mail! (YHOO), will soon be usurped by newer, better versions.

The article also references Joseph Schumpeter’s concept of creative distruction. As an economist by education, I couldn’t resist commenting because I think that’s exactly what is going to happen with Rich Internet Applications as a whole. Adobe AIR is uniquely positioned to bridge a gap between web developers and the desktop, so it may speed the process along, but everything we’re seeing, from better interfaces built on top of web services to branded applications, will change how people think of software. It won’t be tomorrow, but developers are evolving and good design is becoming a huge part of the process. In the end, I think we’ll have much more usable, nimble and cross-platform.

[tags]Rich Internet Applications, Adobe AIR, Pownce[tags]

Update: I’ve created a wiki that is housing a huge list of AIR applications. If you’re looking for (or want to add) your AIR app, that’s the best place to do it.
I was in the process of gathering emails for my list of AIR applications when Clay Timmy sent me a list he’s compiled of 70 Adobe AIR applications that are currently out in the wild and available for download. I’m going to see if I can grab his list, merge it with the applications that I’m getting and post it somewhere as a living document that keeps tabs on the AIR apps that are out there now. So keep sending them.

[tags]Adobe AIR[/tags]

TechCrunch has a post up about Aviary, a set of 14 tools that range from an image editor to a 3D modeler. The full list is pretty impressive:

• Image editor (Phoenix)
• A swatch generator tool (Toucan)
• A pattern generator tool (Peacock)
• Vector editor (Raven)
• 3D modeler (Hummingbird)
• Audio editor (Myna)
• Music generator (Roc)
• Video editor (Hawk)
• Desktop publishing tool (Owl)
• Word processor (Penguin)
• Painting simulator (Pigeon)
• Unlimited distributed file system network (Rookery)
• Image identifier (Eagle)
• Custom image product creator (Crane)

The entire suite is going to be built on top of Flex which means they could easily be deployed as AIR applications down the road. I haven’t been able to get any information about who (if anyone) they’re talking to at Adobe, but I hope that’s happening. This would be a great AIR story and already sounds like a great Flex story.

Some of the commentary focuses on Adobe being in trouble because of all these free, browser-based tools that are coming out. But I actually think these tools and our software is complimentary. We cater to a professional crowd that needs the features, capability, and speed of a desktop application. The consumer/hobbyist market however could really use something like this that is easy to use and a bit lower level.

[tags]Aviary, Flex, AIR, Creative Tools[/tags]

I’ll see what I can do to get a demo of the application, but if the screenshots are any indication, this thing is pretty cool.

I’ve been bad about updating my linkblog the past few weeks because I’ve been swamped with getting into the new job and this week the bus tour took up a lot of time. But I was poking around my trends and found something interesting – I share a lot of stuff about Silverlight:

I share a lot of Silverlight info! I think that’s partly because the crew at Microsoft always seem to put together a lot of interesting posts about how Silverlight works or how to do certain things with it. If you’re looking for a pretty good roundup of RIA news I’m trying to keep my linkblog more active and as you can see it will give you a pretty balanced view of the world. You’ll even get Ajax!

[tags]Blogging, Silverlight[/tags]

One of the cooler posts I’ve seen recently is by Tim Sneath, an evangelist over at Microsoft who posted a list of 50 Silverlight applications. I’d like to do something similar with Adobe AIR, so drop me an email with an AIR application you’ve built or even just tell me about some of your favorite apps. Hopefully we can get 50 to list.

[tags]Adobe AIR, applications[/tags]

In checking my feeds today I saw that Webware has a nice long post on some of the AIR applications that have been released. They mention Digital Editions, which isn’t actually an AIR application, but the others they mention are all very good. When you step back and think about it, the uptake of AIR has been pretty impressive. The beta has been out for a month and there are already a ton of cool applications.

On the tour we’re seeing a lot of excitement from web developers. By our count the split of Flash and Javascript developers is about 50/50. Adobe hasn’t really talked to Javascript developers the way we are now and they’re responding well to being able to build applications outside the browser. I hope they keep digging in and pushing the boundaries of AIR so that by the time we do the actual release we’ll have a lot of traction and a lot of examples to point to.

[tags]Adobe AIR[/tags]

Total Training is one of my favorite training services for Rich Internet Application technologies. Between them and Lynda.com we’re very well covered. I have a ton of Total Training DVDs sitting around at home so I was really happy to hear that they’ve gone to an online format so you can get access to their library from anywhere.

Steve Johnson was kind enough to give me 25 free online passes for you guys. All you need to do is head over to the Total Training website and put in the activation code 73e84d96. You’ll get a free 30 day trial of the library and you can pack in a ton of knowledge.

Update:  The invites are all used up (you guys are fast). I’ll try to get some more.
[tags]Total Training[/tags]