If U Can’t Beat’em JQuery’em!

Although the average consumer doesn’t really care what technologies lie hidden behind all the social networks, websites, video ads, etc. they consume, the folks that actually earn a living putting all those things together do. To the developers, programmers, producers and project managers of the world this is neither hype nor magic, its how they feed their families. Developing the skills required to build any of the dazzling applications that come across your browser takes time (sometimes a lot of time), energy, dedication and no small amount of money to learn. So if digital development is your chosen field of endeavor, picking the right technology to “float your boat” in is a major investment!

I usually keep this blog centered on the merging of technology and advertising coming together to not only redefine the advertising business but to redefine life as we know it. Although technology is the reason for all this, its seldom the point of interest, at least not the “details”. For example, there is not a soul alive, layman, technologist, or advertising maven that will deny the overwhelming effect the mobile phone has, is and will have on our daily lives. But like the television, or even the radio, how many of us actually know how it works? Once a handy item to avoid pay phones (now nearly extinct) they have become as part of how we live our lives as where we work and what we wear. We use them to locate, placate, associate and communicate…every single day. Yet we still think of the “technology” as the actual device itself and not the all important “innards”. An iphone is an iphone right?

Nope! An iphone is a few chips and buttons in a shiny metal casing that let electrons flow in the right direction. But if you don’t have the programs that link it to your network carrier, provide you with your contact phone numbers, allow you to play all those fun-crazy games we all know and love, those electrons all go to waste. Yes, my friend, its the infamous “software” that makes all that shiny hardware valuable…not vice-versa. With that in mind, picking the right kind of software a software professional should know can make all the difference between standing in line for your IPO or standing in line for your bread! With that said, how do software professionals choose which set of skills they need? The ubiquitous answer is the “marketplace”. Yes, we’re back to the world of Adam Smith and the “free hand” taking control of our economic lives ( see the article “We’re off to see the Widget, June, 2009 http://sonyainc.net/wordpress/page/2/)

Everytime a consumer gets their first iPhone or Android or Blackberry, he’s putting money in some developer’s pocket somewhere in the world. And in this global economy that’s a force to be reckoned with. But here’s the catch…who besides Apple will ever get rich off of “Objective C”? I’m sure that most of you reading this article don’t even know what “Objective C” is or will ever even care. But those of you that DO, I’m betting are software “slash” Internet “slash” digital developers of some kind. And if that’s the case, I’m betting even odds that you spent no small amount of time wondering whether or not it was worthwhile to learn “Objective C” and cash in on the ever expanding iPhone phenomena and its 100,000 apps!

But lets look at an even broader picture. Lets not just hone in on mobile phones or even the Internet as a whole. Lets go beyond the gadgets to what’s really happening. We’ve had the Industrial Revolution, the Electronic Evolution, now its time for the “Communication Revolution”, the revolution we’re all participating in, young and old, foreign and domestic, rich and poor, techie and consumer. After all, that’s why we’re online, on the phone, and on the go in the first place. The world is becoming a 24 hour odeon for entertainment, information and just a cool place to be, even when you’re “relaxing” at home. The hardware will be telephones, televisions, computers, refrigerators and coffee pots, but guess what? Its going to be the software that holds it all together across so many different kinds of platforms. But which one? Remember the days of Microsoft vs. Apple, Digital Equipment vs. IBM, the Model T vs. the horse and buggy? So the race is on and everyone loves a good competition. Will it be Android or iOS? HTML 5 or Flash or Javascript? Will it be Xbox or Wii? Who knows!? My guess ALL of the above, at least for a little while.

As for advertising, for me, nothing beats Flash/Actionscript (You techies know what I’m talking about), but Flash has its ups and downs in the mobile market and the great Steve Jobs himself and decreed it a thing of the past if, for no other reason, he simply doesn’t like Adobe. (see article “Veni, Viddy, Vici”, july 2010). Being Steve Jobs he can bend or even tilt the marketplace, but even he can’t break it. That’s left in the all-powerful hands of the consumer. However, what most consumers are unaware of is that most of the core technologies that run their precious gadgets have been around for decades, a lot longer than the actual devices themselves. Javascript has been with us since the 90s, Objective C, since the 80s, html (including “most” of html 5) has been around since the 70’s! Flash/Actionscript is actually the “baby” in this bunch!

In either case, to keep an open mind I’ve launched a jquery version( http://sonyainc.net/jqdemo/ ) of my Flash based signature site. Just so I don’t feel excluded from the overwhelming number of “AJAX” developers who will have their say in the Communications Revolution. In my mind, there’s room enough for everybody! If you don’t know what AJAX is, don’t worry about it. No, its not a powdered cleanser but it will play a significant role in your digital life whether you’re aware of it or not and right now a lot of developers are betting it will be their meal ticket to fame, fortune, and some all new gadgers of their own. We’ll see…we’ll see….