Could the last one out, please turn off the Silverlight.
In the world of web media, Adobe Flash is king. Microsoft’s two-year old attempt at dethroning came with Silverlight – actually not a bad platform, but simply too late. Much is being made that UK-based streaming media giant ITV is dumping Silverlight.
I think part of Microsoft’s problem is the company’s disdain for web standards. Web developers crave standards to make their websites and user experience compatible on any browser. This is especially important now in mobile. So it’s no wonder they distrust Microsoft on Silverlight. Very little uptake. The next big hurdle for Silverlight will be the soon-to-be-set-stone web standard HTML 5 which promises to eliminate the need for browser plugins such as flash.
A quote from today’s Wall Street Journal:
“The idea of taking on Adobe was one of the scariest competitive things I’ve seen in a long time,” says Bob Muglia, president of Microsoft’s server and tools division, which counts Silverlight among its products. “They were and are the 800-pound gorilla in that space.”
Wow – I didn’t realize anybody still used such worn business cliches as “800-pound gorilla”…
Some other cliches I hope to hear less of…
1. Low hanging fruit (Still there because my dog peed on them…)
2. Crossing the chasm (Google maps wouldn’t have led you to a chasm, would it?)
3. Stakeholder value (Going against the vampire trend…)
4. Thinking outside the box (If you’re actually saying this out loud, you are SO IN THE BOX!)
5. User Experience (Gasp! say it ain’t so!)
Recent Comments