Ray Uzwyshyn

Miami, Florida

Webmaster, University of MIami

I was amazed and excited when I heard about this merger. I've been using Flash for around seven years and I feel its the future of the internet. Combined with the other graphics/document innovator, Adobe, this is a very interesting combination - for now. I also see this as the maturity, apogee and perhaps 'decadance' of a 'motion graphics 2D paradigm. As a web designer (I started before 'developer' was the vogue), I've always been concerned about innovation and 2D robust vector graphics combined with video and interactivity was the future. Where I see the action happening now, 'the real action', 'the cutting edge action', is in 'games', specifically online 3D games. Microsoft's strength is not really its operating system but rather the X-Box and their ability to combine the future of the X-Box with future operating systems. Also, whoever can construct a 'Dreamweaver-like' easy to use 'Online 3D Game' constructor-set or 1-person editor will be a 'new' business magnate with which to contend'. The new young turks who can figure out how to map the somewhat overlooked 'online game market to higher purposes of 'education', 'advertising' and 'business' will be the new web entrepeneurs (Razorfish etc.). Finally, the 'kids' who can begin to take the well established 3D game hunter/gather paradigms and map them to the serious purposes of 'information seeking' 'information systems and retrieval for business and western commodity culture will sculpt the landscape of the twenty first century