Go Platform-independent or Go Away!
Recently, I was at a learning technologies conference and strolling through the vendor expo. As I chatted with various application vendors, I was a little surprised at how few were actively developing or planning to migrate their applications to be platform-independent. The overwhelming majority were still stuck in Windows-world with no clear strategy for moving beyond it. Let me explain why I think platform-independence is crucial for the long-term vitality of the learning industry.
My path through the world of computers has not exactly been typical and I readily admit it. My earliest interactions with so-called “personal computers” began in the early 80s with such classics as the RadioShack TRS-80, Tandy Color Computer, Colecovision Adam, Apple II, and Commodore 64. I bought a Commodore Amiga 1000 when it was first introduced, and over the years progressed through the 2000, 3000, and 4000. With Commodore going bankrupt and Apple in a state of stagnation, I finally succumbed to the Wintel world in the mid-90s in order to stay relevant and have access to the best of breed tools available at the time.
Why bring this up now? The 80s were interesting in computer technology because there was no absolute domination by a single platform. Computers were focused more on particular areas of expertise: IBM clones (PCs) were office machines, Macs were great for the publishing world, and Amigas were popular with multimedia enthusiasts. PCs were DOS machines and Windows was a poor attempt by Microsoft to mimic the GUIs made popular by Apple and Commodore.
So how did Microsoft gain the stranglehold that Windows has enjoyed for nearly 2 decades? Because the PC world was all about shared standards and specifications for the hardware, unlike Apple and Commodore where the hardware and the OS were tightly integrated and controlled by the same company. Windows 3.1 was actually somewhat usable and easily installed on even basic DIY computers built by small computer vendors locally. Software vendors took notice and made sure to create a version of their software for Windows. Eventually, the majority of vendors stopped making alternate versions and Windows became the only platform for many applications.
Okay, I hope you hung with me through the brief history lesson. Here’s the relevance. Due to the circumstances outlined above, learning applications have been primarily Windows-centric. And while that situation made sense 10 years ago, it is now a real growth barrier for many vendors. Why do I say that? First of all, full disclosure. I work for Red Hat, the open source leader and provider of Red Hat Enterprise Linux. I see first-hand on a daily basis the interest and momentum that Linux is gaining, especially in the developing world and computing alternatives such as netbooks and smartphones. In addition to Linux, the Mac has staged a major resurgence in popularity as Apple has smartly increased it’s presence with all things “i” (Ipod, Iphone, Itunes).
Don’t get me wrong. Windows is still the 800-pound gorilla in desktop operating systems. But the OS is not the gatekeeper it once was. Middleware is the new king of the hill. Google and Salesforce.com proved that. Software as a service (SaaS) tends to be platform-independent, meaning it doesn’t really care what computer hardware or operating system you use as long as the appropriate middleware component is in place.
Why should you care? If you’re an applications vendor and you don’t have a strategy for making your application platform-independent or at least creating an alternate platform-independent variant, then you will severely limit your growth potential as the rest of the world cares less and less about what OS runs the hardware. If you’re a training vendor, then you need to adapt to supporting clients with varying needs and not assume that Windows will always be the common denominator. And finally, if you’re a learning technologies consumer, you should have choice and freedom from being tied to a particular OS or hardware platform when you plan your training approach.
And for you vendors who say your application can’t be designed to be platform-independent, I call you out. Complete office suites are offered as SaaS applications. Great examples of learning technologies that are platform-independent include SmartBuilder from Suddenly Smart, Scene7 from Adobe, and Xyleme LCMS from Xyleme. Yes, it can be done. And the smart money for the future is on those vendors who see the opportunity rather than the challenge.
Get smart, go platform-indepedent, and grow your company. Or stick with your Windows-centric strategy and follow the dodo.
disappointed that you didn’t mention Udutu, who were the first truly platform independant elearning application, and helped to pave the way. Since then, several web based solutions have come along that also offer platform independance. There is a difference between platform independance and adherence to an open source philosophy. I know that you had issues with Udutu because it converts sound files to the MP3 format rather than Ogg Vorbis, but all browsers have built in support for MP3 so it is in effect platform independant, even if MP3 is not actually open source. After all, the Udutu application is free, and that’s as close to open source as most folks care about.
Nancy MacGregor Hill
March 8, 2009
You’re right. Udutu definitely deserves mention for being a pioneer in the SaaS model for authoring tools. I refer people to it regularly who are looking for an alternative tool that is easy to use yet powerful. And I applaud the foresight of the Udutu team in designing a Facebook app that leverages social networking for elearning.
addietood
March 8, 2009
Thank so much for the support of our decision to be platform independent. We feel it’s critical to be able to support content authors and contributors no matter which OS they’re on. That’s why we built our product to support Window, Mac and Linux.
Another type of independence you might want to be thinking about is output independence…
Don’t just build content for web or print. Instead of developing your Instructor Guide and Student Guide in Word or FrameMaker, your Slides in PowerPoint or Keynote and your learning in Articulate or Lectora.. create them all in XML then transform them programmatically into whatever outputs you need… it really let’s you “future-proof” you content.
Stuart Grossman
March 11, 2009