71 karma · joined May 14, 2010
When flash met it's untimely death, the advertising creatives that I worked spent 10 years asking for solutions that involved transparent video in html; we had to tell them no.
I hadn't really considered that browser blend modes have turned that party back on.
I've never been able to use the phrase "software engineer", despite having 20+ years of software experience because I was raised to believe that Engineers have silver rings, engineering degrees and professional standing.
"nibmle" should be "nimble".
Bite the hand that feeds you much, FT?
There are some Canadian winners out there if you look for them.
When you're happy, you won't regret walking away even if you left a little bit of money left on the table.
What did you build today?
I know HTML and a bunch of server languages as well so I'm covered if something would happen. I'm not going to say that flash is here forever but it will take a lot longer to disappear than you probably think, especially with the new 3d stuff.
We build websites for ad agencies and are looking for an senior interactive frontend developer (and maybe a bit of backend if you like it). I'll take smart over senior any day though. I'm basically looking for someone that isn't afraid to pick up a new language and dig when they need to. Our clients constantly challenge us, so it's an interesting job, for sure. Not a typical HN starup but you'll learn a lot.
http://www.wearelollipop.com/2011/10/senior-interactive-deve...
A similar thing happened to me. The startup that I was building was going all right business-wise, but constant, relentless pressure from the financier was ruining my life (I programmed, he paid and did sales).
I had a nervous breakdown and left the business. To pay the bills, I told everyone that I know that I was freelancing back in the world that I came from - building digital advertising sites. I was embarrassed, broken and burned out.
It was the best move that I ever made. I ended up only working for small startup web production companies. One of those companies loved my work and we got along famously. They ended up offering me an equity position in their company. I brought sales contacts into the business that were too big to work on my own. The result is a booming business. We're doing just awesome work that I never thought I would be doing.
While it sucked (and still sometimes sucks) to do project work, we're paying down some debt and planning to pivot our services company and potentially add a product to the mix.
I don't know if you can do exactly what I did but my point is that you need to chill, do awesome stuff for small companies and have faith that you're doing the right thing. Like another reader said, something good will happen.
Life doesn't work out as you plan but if you let it take you where it needs to, it can work out better.
These tools could win out on price, stability or simplicity but if Adobe doesn't screw this up, they I'd put my money on Flash due to it's advanced featureset.
That said, there's probably room for a few players in this space. Heaven knows Adobe needs the competition.