Re: [Jmol-users] Jmol/ChemDoodle

[Rzepa H. <h....@im...>]

On 6 Apr 2012, at 21:49, Kevin Theisen wrote:

> Yes, I completely agree, the fragmentation is very annoying, but given that WebGL only came out of beta status last year, I am not surprised.
> 
> What I recommend is a grouping of technologies, so Jmol and ChemDoodle should be used together to reach all devices. Older graphics cards are less likely to support WebGL (>5 years old, this is because there are no security features built in to stop abuse on these cards, and on the web, that can be a very common thing, given that one could never access the graphics card via the web before) and newer platforms are less likely to support Java, so together I think there is the most coverage.
> 
> Of course, as development continues, WebGL and Javascript will continue to get faster, graphics cards will be handled and removed from blacklists, WebGL will appear in more browsers on more machines, and ChemDoodle will have more and more features. We saw a similar thing with Java, back when it was unveiled, it was slower, but today, Java performance is very good and no one complains about it.

Might  I recount the story of  SVG.  

Part 1: First proposed around  1999 or so (13 years ago), only now is it fully implemented in most  modern browsers. Yes,  even Microsoft support it over their own  (now abandoned) vector graphics format.  I think it really came into its own when the zoom/pinch metaphor on mobile devices mandated properly scalable images.  Mind you, an interesting variation over browsers is  2^^n.  Chrome has n=12 or so, but eg Safari seems to have  n=5 before the scaling stops.

Part 2:  Go to the instructions for authors in most  (all?) journals, and you still will not find  SVG (and actually, that goes for  HTML as well).  I recently sent SVG to a journal. The initial reaction was total bafflement, which manifested as silence (80% of problems are actually solved by inactivity until the problem simply ceases to matter).   Eventually,  I forced the issue, and it went all the way to the top (of a large publisher) and down again.  The process took about  5 months. It is now accepted!!  Next down,  Jmol, ChemDoodle and  GLmol!  Oh, and about 10 other (chemistry) publishers to convince as well.

I kind of get the impression that  WebGL still has some issues, mostly related to the security features  Kevin notes above, which Apple and  others are still resolving (hence debug mode).   I am worried that with this security, sometimes the baby will be thrown away with the bathwater.

I would venture to suggest that when it comes to the e-book market,  SVG, WebGL and HTML5 will become ubiquitous over say a 5 year period  (which is less than the 13 year period  I note above).