Adobe’s JamJar

I just discovered Adobe’s new JamJar application, via Digg of course.

It’s a very interesting demo of the kind of user interface one can
build with Adobe’s Flex2 development platform. It’s also a shining
example of how a new interface can totally confuse a user when it comes
to figuring out how the thing works.

I have to still try out the rest of it but I did have a go at their
“Photo sharing” workspace and the interface seemed clunky, at best, to
me. And noisy.
Every button you hover on makes a uniquely disturbing sound. The
adjoining picture (click on it for a full size screenshot) is what
around 5 minutes with Jamjar resulted in.

With the kind of possibilities that are available when you’re making a
user interface in Flex, it’s kind of surprising that Adobe didn’t do
better. There’s a vertical Google Adsense advertisement strip on the right, which
takes up a lot of screen space in an application where it’s at a
premium. Using an ugly wide skyscraper strip in what is essentially a technology demo is quite disconcerting. I simply don’t get why Adobe has to sabotage it’s own early stage demo
like this. If I were in their Jamjar team I’d make sure to kept it free of advertisements, I’m sure Adobe can afford to.

Yes, I know that this will probably cause a flame war or something. Bring it on.

I just think that Adobe should have called it a demonstration showcase
or something for Flex2, instead of a “web2.0″ application that was for general
use. I don’t think that the general Internet populace, even the web 2.0
audience, is completely ready for it yet.

Oh, and don’t get me wrong. The underlying technology is nothing short of brilliant.
Think about multi-file, single action uploading with detailed progress
notification (via progress bars) and you know what the platform is
like. For Flex2 application developers, that is.

I do hope they remove the advertising. At least until they are in “Beta” phase. Or is that too much to ask?