The fishy demo is cool. Creating fishies that look at an item, and then moving them is cool.
Why? Because it shows a few things that appeal to web developers. It features that they can create something ONLINE and see results instantly. They don’t have to use some complicated development tool (IDE). And responding to events with real-time motion is cool.
And it shows a technology (canvas) that hasn’t even registered in the mainstream public consciousness.
Another technology is 3-D. It’s even cooler. And within weeks (relatively speaking), Firefox will show us a browser with development tools that will wow a developer. (3D tilt). Not much use in that context, but still, cute.
Here’s an analogy: Ajax is something that marketing invented. It’s not that terribly complicated, yet there are books target to just it. Why is this? Because it was given a name, and then given a lot of publicity.
Wouldn’t a lot of publicity given to a development environment that exists ONLINE and coding in real time, and producing output suitable for a web page and featuring a new technology (3D) generate a lot of buzz? Yes it would. All the parts currently exist, just like Ajax. It’s presenting them as something new that is the selling point.
Of course when presenting it, it is presented with a more simplified version of the development environment, (advanced options can be selected by one single click; a company that makes these tools should know that).
Ok, I’m going to step off my marketing soap-box now and make a commit to the code 