I just came back from SF having attended the ever-cool Flashforward conference. As always it was inspiring to hear and experience some of the top names in the business.
But one thing has me a little concerned: Why the combined brain trust of the Flash business hasn't evelved past the point of animosity towards the (in)famous usability "guru" Jakob Nielsen. I mean, back in 2002 I attended a Jakob Nielsen workshop at the Macromedia DevCon in Orlando. This was touted as the great peace-pipe-smoking-event between Flash and the bald devil.
I am frankly very discouraged by the fact that not one but two of the speakers still found it worthwhile to make fun of Jakob Nielsen 5+ years after the fact. Come on guys, please find a new pet peeve. I mean, sure he looks kinda funny but so do many of "us". Do you expect this business to be taken seriously when we spend time making fun of others like pre-schoolers. Especially taking into consideration that we won the battle.
I should also note that apart from being a Dane like Mr. Nielsen I have no special sympathy for him or his views. I had forgotten the entire affair and thus was very surprised to see it rear its childish head again.
Other than that I love San Francisco and I wanna live there in my next life. If only I could decide between Monterey and Nob Hill...
