Mixed Feelings on the End of CFDJ

Note: I have updated the article since posting... with the Software Developer link, and come cleanup...

Sys-Con has announced that they are "relaunching" the ColdFusion Developer's Journal as the Silverlight Developer's Journal.

I first heard about this as a Google News Alert late last night. Before I could post about it, it had been covered elsewhere in the CF blogosphere (in the order that I read them)...

• Brian Rinaldi's Blog
• Michael Dinowitz's Blog of Fusion
• Sean Corfield
• Ray Camden
• TJ Downes
• Simon Horwith (Read this one)
• Matt Woodward - Post 1
• Matt Woodward - Post 2

I wanted to chime in, as my opinions are a little different than the others expressed so far on the topic, although there is some common ground.

Since Silverlight has nothing to do with ColdFusion, Sys-Con seems to be taking a dig into the removed support from Adobe and stopping that magazine. I used to subscribe to CFDJ out of my own pocket, but got frustrated with my subscription because of issues that were part of my subscription that didn't come, declining quality, and the price, and I did not renew, back when my subscription ended in 2005. Since then, I continued to read the PDF version, and saw a quality increase when Simon Horwith initially took over as its editor. Over the last year or so, the quality went back down again, while I got too busy at work to read the mag as often as I had. While I was away from being an avid reader, it appeared that the magazine got behind in their publishing schedule, and even missed entire months. Recently, after requesting that my boss subscribe, she got a corporate subscription to CFDJ and a few other magazines, and I was not pleased to see that the quality and frequency of CFDJ had gotten even worse. I was planning to recommend that we end our subscription and instead subscribe to the Fusion Authority Quarterly Update (FAQU). I know Judith and Michael personally, but, even if I didn't, I can say without bias that their magazine is what CFDJ SHOULD HAVE BEEN.  The FAQU is the best web related magazine I have EVER read. Every article I have read the first two issues (I've yet to read the third) has been of top quality, and ColdFusion developers as a community will not miss CFDJ.

I have mixed feelings about the end of CFDJ. The magazine itself became a travesty. The article quality was fair at best, poor at times. I read the latest issue (months behind) to find an article I thought I would find very informative and insightful about being a better CF developer, only to read it and find that it had almost nothing to do with CF at all. I am withholding the name of the article and its author to save face. It wasn't a bad article - it just had little to do with ColdFusion, and its title was grossly misleading. The website - well, others have already expressed it - it was one of the worst websites I have ever seen. Sys-con.com looks like it was developed by a crystal meth addict. The company itself, as previously expressed, managed the magazine poorly.  So, I am NOT sad to see CFDJ the magazine go. I think it's probably accurate that Adobe removed its funding after seeing Sys-Con mismanage the mag than the magazine deteriorating because Adobe pulled funding.

I AM VERY disappointed with the way Sys-Con announced it. They are making it sound like Silverlight is replacing ColdFusion. They meet two different needs. What's probably more accurate is that Microsoft gave Sys-Con lots of funding to start the magazine, and this gave Sys-Con a chance to throw sand in Adobe's proverbial face for the removal of its funding of CFDJ. "Ha ha!  Adobe stopped giving us money - we'll SHOW THEM!!! Now we have Microsoft for another mag, and they have much deeper pockets!" Sys-Con, what a classless act. You could have been more gracious, take the high road, and announce you were closing down CFDJ and announcing the SLDJ. Instead, you showed what a terrible company you truly are.

I am most disappointed that this is the third time this year that, despite the fact that 2007 marks the biggest ColdFusion release in years, that there's been a public dismissal of ColdFusion in the media.  First, it was ComputerWorld's article from hell, then Software Developer's article, and now Sys-Con's announcement.  I worry about IT management seeing this as yet another sign that ColdFusion is in decline. I worry that it will be another excuse for managers to move off of CF and go to .NET or what have you, or never use CF at all.

Clearly, there is a gap between the media and the CF development community, and between the general web development community and the CF community. Developers won't miss CFDJ, but it's another PR loss for the community, which makes our job harder when trying to advocate ColdFusion as the language of choice.

ColdFusion is the glue behind Adobe's other efforts - Flex, AIR, Acrobat Connect and Lifecycle. It's also still the best RAD web language around.

I see this as a time for Adobe to put their marketing engine in gear, rev it up for ColdFusion and give it all it's got. It's time to stop the ColdFusion disinformation campaign in the media. I am tired of ColdFusion being a punching bag.