Would it be wrong to say that just a few years ago when rich internet applications (RIAs) were starting to make serious strides on the market, Adobe was confronted with a dilemma: they would either need to promote Flex as an alternative to AJAX solutions, which would polarize the market, or to just embrace (and potentially lead) the AJAX market.

Adobe settled on the latter, and brought forth Spry, a framework for AJAX. This was a good move, as it seems clear today that Flex and AJAX have a symbiotic relationship. Google (author of the famous Google Web Toolkit for AJAX), Yahoo (author of the equally famous Yahoo! User Interface Library toolkit), and many other mainstream players consistently use AJAX and other tools, such as Flex, in their projects.

In retrospect, Spry was an excellent investment for Adobe not only because of the great value it brings to the developer community and to Adobe itself, but also because it saved them from a potential public relations nightmare.

I think the lesson to be learned from this, is that not all communications come in the shape of a formal press release, a blog posting, or a hosted event. Spry is a very successful communications vehicle disguised as a product.