Flash Product Mgr. Weighs In RE: Flash 10 And CDNs

The Adobe Sr. Product Manager for Flash responds to me regarding my comments about Flash, p2p and CDNs.

For those of you too lazy to read the whole thing, my 100 word translation:

We are not saying you can't do what you have said in your article. However, this was not our intent, and we don't like the idea that you are saying Flash is going to kill CDNs. We *love* our CDN partners and don't want any of them pissed off or scared. That said, if you do want to do any of this p2p stuff, you will have to authorize through the Flash Media Server. By the way, Flash 10 is *really* cool!

Full Text:

Hank,

The new RTMFP protocol in Flash Player 10 provides an alternative to RTMP allowing customers to develop real-time communication applications with an improved user experience. Applications like chat and games are great examples of what you are likely to see make use of this technology.

Adobe has made no announcements regarding Content Delivery Networks and file sharing. Adobe highly values its CDN partners they are an integral component in delivering rich video experiences to Flash Player. This new protocol has been designed for communication solutions, not massive content delivery.

We chose UDP because it’s an efficient protocol for low-latency streaming video conversations, voice conversations or other similar solutions. UDP combined with the high-fidelity of SPEEX audio, will allow our customers to build great voice and audio solutions targeting Flash Player 10. To enable RTMFP and the UDP transport, authorization from a future server-based technology such as Adobe Flash Media Server will be required.

Flash Media Server will continue to be used to stream massive amounts of content to Flash Player because it can serve and protect video and reach the largest possible audience. New information within Flash player 10 allows a developer to monitor how a stream is arriving and make decisions if a different bit rate will improve the video experience for the end user.

We are very excited about this new communication technology, the protection around it and being able to improve the delivery experience for both communication and media delivery to Flash Player.

Justin Everett-Church
Sr. Product Manager, Adobe Flash Player