Meteor gets $9M in funding — by reinventing a 10 year old technology
Meteor, a JavaScript framework that allows you to rapidly create “real-time” Web application (think AJAX-y), just got $9M in funding. So it’s all cool and good, and it feels like how Ruby on Rails removed the pain out of doing Web CRUD apps half a decade ago.
But… why not Flash?
If you showed Meteor’s screencast to a semi-techy friend, you might get asked that question. Sure, Meteor makes your Web app look cool and slick with all the real-time updates and stuff.
But actually, deep down you know that Flash could already do that ten years ago. I mean, even Java Applets could do “real time” dead reckoning a decade ago. You may argue that we couldn’t have done it in a Web browser 10 years ago — but in terms of actual functions performed, it’s difficult to get any solid arguments.
But Flash requires a plug-in!
Typical arguments against Flash:
- It requires a plug-in — before Steve Jobs banned Flash for political reasons, its penetration rate was 95%+
- It’s proprietary — as is Windows, Photoshop, and even iOS.
- It impedes SEO — as if a dynamic Web application is very SEO friendly.
Lesson Learned?
So what can we make of it? Flash more or less killed itself when acquired by Adobe which led it down the path of stagnation and non-innovation.
Of course, it’s not like getting $9M in funding is a success measure in and of itself. Definitely not fair where Flash is a solid revenue generating product vs Meteor a “welfare” project. So we’ll see…