Comments about the Macromedia Conference
I had a lot of fun at the Macromedia “MAX” Conference the other week. Unfortunately, there was very little attention given to Director there. I think there were about 5 or 6 sessions and no “gathering” in the evening. Most of the conference was on derivative Flash technology, like the new Macromedia Central or Breeze. These are really just new ways to use Flash.
One thing I noticed about Macromedia’s focus is how much it has shifted over the years. I used to get very excited about Macromedia products because they enabled me to build things that simply could not be built before. For instance, Shockwave enabled me to embed Director movies into Web pages, Shockwave 3D enabled me to create 3D worlds without an expensive engine, and Flash enabled me to make games that work on a variety of devices.
However, the new products, like Breeze, Central, Contribute and even the older Dreamweaver, seem to focus on making this that I could already do simply easier. Easier but more expensive. These products are geared toward large corporations looking for better ways to manage large amounts of information. It simply doesn’t make sense for the small developer like myself to use something like Breeze. Using something like Contribute might make sense if I was working inside a large company.
Most of the examples shown during presentations and keynote speeches showed very corporate or e-commerce-oriented sites. These things already exist in abundance on the Internet. I’m more interested in building things that don’t yet exist. Macromedia used to be there, leading the way with new an innovative products. Now it just seems that they are content to follow the trends.