Performance?

April 22, 2009 by Dave Haynes

I wonder how Adobe has updated Flash’s CPU-hungry architecture to run on low power platforms like set-top boxes. In its current form, Flash requires a fast desktop CPU and thus has been unable to run on embedded media player devices.

Assuming the performance issues are solved, this is indeed an interesting development for digital signage. The Strobe framework is equally interesting because it seems to provide all of the basic media playing plumbing to developers who will then be able to build value-added apps on top of it. In many ways, this pulls the rug out from under many DS software companies’ value proposition, which is basically providing that same plumbing infrastructure.

If this framework catches on (which will inevitably happen on streaming media websites first), then I can see DS software moving to an Adobe-based “standard” and adding value with features built on top of the framework. This is generally the way software development evolves, with apps giving way to platforms. There is no reason DS shouldn’t evolve along the same path.