Zinc 3.0 versus AIR

Adobe AIR certainly changed the way we think about rich desktop applications. It was a real sigh of relief for me when the details of AIR came out during the initial days. We no longer had to battle with the Flash security sandbox while building desktop/kiosk applications. A lot of our dreams could turn to reality. It took a few lines of code and the power of Flex to build a simple Picasa desktop widget to display your Picasa album pics. The same code with a few changes can be ported to the web as well. Now, that's kewl!

As the human needs grow, we want more power in our applications, to not just build apps that rely on the power of the Flex SDK, but, to push the limits a bit further and talk more to the system, use DLLs built using .NET or other languages, configure the application easily setting numerous options, create screensavers, use the text-to-speech engine to make things more interactive, launch other applications and the biggest of them all – do no framework installation. A lot of clients just ask for a simple EXE which doesn't rely on other installations to run. Even though AIR 2.0 address a couple of necessities, it doesn't offer them all.

I am not against AIR and in favour of Zinc or the vice versa. I like them both. They have their own pros and cons and it is up to the requirement and the developer to decide which is best suited. I like Adobe AIR because – its FREE, you can create AIR applications from Flash Builder, Flash IDE or HTML, the certification makes it a secure way to distribute applications, there are so many things you can readily do because of the community reach that Adobe AIR has. Multidmedia Zinc 3.0 is expensive and so is new offering Inferno (I love the name!). Using Zinc, the amount of extensions you could use is really a big point to note. If AIR gives us some of these abilities, it would certainly be awesome!

At the end of the day, the technology we choose is established on "client requirements". The reason I have seen a lot of clients deviate from the use of AIR for deployment is because AIR needs the AIR framework installed. It is not too big a deal for us, but, in closed environments like at my workplace, where, computer users are "Power users" and would not have installation rights for software, AIR draws a big question mark. Most applications I have developed over the years are really simple little applications – Widgets, kiosk apps etc which have the big basic requirement – "Every user should be able to install the app on their desktop". This makes me go back to Zinc every time, even though, I, as a developer, would naturally prefer AIR.

Would Adobe have to worry about Zinc? I am sure it doesn't have to. With the amount of reach and community interest it has generated over the years, AIR is here to stay big time! Most certainly, AIR has a long way to go before everybody accepts it. Adobe took a big step forward with the new features introduced in AIR 2.0. Zinc fights a very good game. I wish the technology was cheaper though. J

Branding 2.0 – The final part

Yup, "Tomorrow" took a few days to come. Anyway, here goes the final part.

When it comes to online/digital advertising, banners play quite a part! We see them almost everywhere – in all forms, shapes and sizes. The amount of money and research that goes into this simple form of creative is actually very large. Whether people actually click it or just turn a blind spot, it has quite a success rate at times. Good online real estate is expensive. A lot of companies (agencies) do some research on the site that would display their banner before actually mocking up the creative. The research would be on the type content, colour, speech tone etc that the site carries, other ads or banners displayed, user interactions they could make use of and a whole lot of other things. All this effort for a banner that may not be seen? Well, I am not a big fan of banner ads, but, I must say that it is really an effective form of advertising. If you have an interesting concept and it is interactive..well.. Moreover, the various sizes are displayed in various areas of various sites or various pages of the same site or various sites – a lot of "various" makes one big statement – "Just see me already!" or "Ok, I am a banner promoting a product. Keep me in mind. You'll see more of me around..don't forget to say Hi". In all its sense, it builds a brand! For example, on my tech sites I go to everyday, Dell banner ads keep showing up in various sizes and colours. Even though I have a blind spot to normal animated banners, these banners somehow don't seem to stay out of my sight. I don't really know what they say. All I know is, they talk Dell!

Landing pages, EDMs have their say in the digital space too. Our email boxes are lie cluttered with many EDMs every day. I admit it that I haven't seen even 10% of the lots I receive, but, people who want to see will see and click. That is the way it works. It is kind of a trial and error if you think about it. What I am trying to say here is – these forms of assets maybe traditional, but, they still live and will live on. They will take new forms and formats, but they will live on!

There is also a Social media advertising frenzy that has picked up pace during the past few years and especially during the hard times of the recession. Brands resorted to people to carry their brand and product forward. Twitter, MySpace and Facebook became the major medium. Companies have their Facebook pages and invite people to join in. People are successfully building networks, promoting brands and products. In fact, even Human resource and staffing agencies have people on LinkedIn, doing searches, going through profiles and contacting candidates. This goes to show that if you know who your target audience are and what medium they use to network, you have got yourself a possibly profitable medium to reach out. Recently an acquaintance asked me if they allow advertising on Farmville. Neither of us had played FarmVille, but, the game is the talk of the town, and, if you are a maker of farming/farm products, what better way to advertise!

The success of a brand online depends on the fame among its users/viewers, interactivity, research, innovation, network and good catchy copy. The real question is – Are you building a brand or selling a product? Let us remember that the success of the product depends on its strong brand power! Banner ads, much like print or TV don't immediately prompt users to buy products. People buy stuff when they know for certain that it is well worth it and they have done enough research about it. Someone once asked me – "Should we have a "Buy Now" button on the banner or a "More Details" button on it? It isn't a very easy question to answer, even after considering all the messaging and creative line. Would you visit a store and buy a TV because a banner says they are the No.1 manufacturers or the TV has n list of features?

Branding 2.0 is about:

• Doing your own research
  
• Creating a whole network buzz
  
• Choosing the right medium
  
• Understanding the user and his behaviour
  
• Right interaction
  
• Building true brand without creating a hype
  

Build your brand! Make the millions!