Will Adobe still support SVG?
I am scared by the new alliance between Adobe and Macromedia. What will happen to SVG after this merger? Some critics are already foreseeing the wonderful integration of Flash and SVG to form a new standards-friendly product. And while it is true that Adobe was a strong supporter of SVG, that was only because they needed something to match the popularity of Flash.
Flash is a proprietary product but it has a much larger installed user base than SVG. And now that Adobe owns Flash would it make any sense to push for an open standard? Well, I think they won't. It would be no surprise if Adobe drops support for SVG entirely and focuses on providing a better Flash solution that could monopolize the whole market. Under these circumstances the Adobe SVG Viewer, the best available SVG viewer (maybe excepting Batik Squiggle) might not have a future at all and this could be a big setback for SVG.
Flash is a proprietary product but it has a much larger installed user base than SVG. And now that Adobe owns Flash would it make any sense to push for an open standard? Well, I think they won't. It would be no surprise if Adobe drops support for SVG entirely and focuses on providing a better Flash solution that could monopolize the whole market. Under these circumstances the Adobe SVG Viewer, the best available SVG viewer (maybe excepting Batik Squiggle) might not have a future at all and this could be a big setback for SVG.
The recent adoption of SVG by two major web browsers (Opera 8.0 and the upcoming Firefox 1.1) is most encouraging. Although the implementations will not be perfect right from the start, they will surely improve over time and they could counteract any move from Adobe. At least that is where my hope is.
posted by catalin at 07:59
4 Comments:
From the merger FAQ
How does this affect Adobe's support of SVG (scalable vector graphics)?
Both Adobe and Macromedia have been involved in defining SVG and both were part of the W3C working group that defined SVG. The combined company will continue to work with customers and partners to define a future roadmap for our products.
Does anybody see a clear commitment here to further support SVG?
Some comments on Slashdot:
What will this mean for SVG?
Can I borrow your crystal ball?
Anonymous post on from someone who pretends he was part of the Adobe SVG team.
SVG question
Why push for SVG when they *own* Flash?
Adobe SVG Viewer 3.03 released
The Web Standards Project: Adobe, 'Rich Internet Applications' and Standards
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