For sure, web developers and programmers can do most of what CDF can do, on their own, in HTML5. It might take them a lot longer, but they could certainly end up with a nice finished product.
This doesn't solve the problem. The problem is neatly illustrated by the fact that news organizations, which have a huge incentive to make compelling, sticky interactivity that wraps their news properties, haven't gone for it. I've only seen two non-trivial uses, the NYT and BBC News, and its clear these were bespoke jobs that cost them a lot of money.
The same goes for textbook publishers, scientists, NGOs, etc, anywhere were technical communication could be significantly improved with interactive documents. This problem remains unsolved.
CDF aims to make it possible for someone to crank out an interactive figure or document in a matter of hours, not weeks, with very little code.
A side comment: I say this without any real proof, but WRI specializes in doing interesting things that are economically self-sustaining, rather than things that make a lot of money. Mathematica is far from a cash cow, and WRI is a small company (~500 people), but it has lasted 25 years, and it regularly adds cutting edge technology to its portfolio. Obviously, it gets to balance profit with "interestingness" mainly because it is privately owned, and Stephen likes collecting interesting people and interesting projects for them to do.
For sure, web developers and programmers can do most of what CDF can do, on their own, in HTML5. It might take them a lot longer, but they could certainly end up with a nice finished product.
This doesn't solve the problem. The problem is neatly illustrated by the fact that news organizations, which have a huge incentive to make compelling, sticky interactivity that wraps their news properties, haven't gone for it. I've only seen two non-trivial uses, the NYT and BBC News, and its clear these were bespoke jobs that cost them a lot of money.
The same goes for textbook publishers, scientists, NGOs, etc, anywhere were technical communication could be significantly improved with interactive documents. This problem remains unsolved.
CDF aims to make it possible for someone to crank out an interactive figure or document in a matter of hours, not weeks, with very little code.
A side comment: I say this without any real proof, but WRI specializes in doing interesting things that are economically self-sustaining, rather than things that make a lot of money. Mathematica is far from a cash cow, and WRI is a small company (~500 people), but it has lasted 25 years, and it regularly adds cutting edge technology to its portfolio. Obviously, it gets to balance profit with "interestingness" mainly because it is privately owned, and Stephen likes collecting interesting people and interesting projects for them to do.