Just got accepted into the Yahoo! beta. This is the first web-based email I would consider using. If I didn’t have multiple email accounts, I would probably switch. Differences from oddpost: 1)doesn’t use a popup window, 2)Doesn’t seem to have rss integration, which oddpost has (seems like an odd decision, maybe they want to save something for the sequel?).
I won’t post screenshots ’cause you can see them here if you’re interested.
AJAX
AJAX shopping cart at the GAP
This NYT article NYT article describes the new AJAX-driven GAP shopping experience (deployment of which apparantly required shutting down gap.com for THREE WEEKS!) More blog coverage here, here and here.
AJAX debuting on the shopping cart actually makes perfect sense. Shopping cart bailouts cost ecommerce companies millions, so the ROI of improving the shopping experience is extremly high.
Yahoo! delivers on the promise of AJAX
I hinted in my last post that one consumer company is showing signs of embracing the “just like the desktop” AJAX approach. That company is Yahoo!
Enterprise AJAX
There’s something very interesting going on right now in the enterprise software world. For the first time since the invention of the personal computer, the UI paradigm being used by coders building business applications is richer and more powerful than the approach being used by coders building consumer applications (which usually get all the glory). There has never been a better time to be in an enterprise UI developer.
AJAX latency
Jep Castelein of backbase has written a nice summary of current thinking on AJAX applications and latency. He points out that most AJAX developers are taking the easy way out, having synchronous logic execute when the user performs an action. This causes a delay as the data is fetched from the server, which is exactly what we are trying to avoid by using AJAX!
The link between AJAX and web 2.0
AJAX and rich clients are indeed intimately related, contrary to what some people say. And it’s not just that they sprang up at the same time, in the same companies, and are therefore associated with each other.
Stewart Butterfield brought this point home at the BayCHI Web 2.0 panel. The following is a transcription [via] from the podcast of the event:
AJAX / RIA mailing list
A few months ago, in the aftermath of the etech BOF on AJAX/RIAs, I started an email list on AJAX / RIA. I have never publicized the list or even told anyone about it. But every couple of weeks someone joins the group! I’ve decided to publicize the list so that it has at least a chance of achieving critical mass. If anyone is looking for conversation about AJAX / Rich Internet Applications, the list to join is ajax_and_ria on yahoogroups.
AJAX != web 2.0
Attention all cars. AJAX is not Web 2.0. In fact, it is in many ways in opposition to web 2.0. AJAX applications create web-pages that are less machine-readable / linkable (try bookmarking a google map). This is a mistake that I have seen some otherwise smart people making, so it’s important to clear this matter up.
Clinton agrees with me
Before we get to Web 2.0., it is useful to consider what does not characterize Web 2.0. For instance, for all of the love that rich client-side AJAX applications such as Gmail have earned, that alone does not make them Web 2.0. Simply having a Flash or WML interface or a XHTML+CSS homepage is not enough to qualify. In fact, in some cases these sites actually lock in more control over the data and manage the presentation even further.
AJAX backlash: dead ahead!
Metafilter has a cool new feature. There’s just one problem: even the users who like the feature in the abstract find it a little annoying in practice.
Anil dash is less than impressed by the latest hot new ruby on rails startup.
Anything you can do in Flash, you can do in AJAX. But just because you can doesn’t mean that you should. Are AJAX developers going to have their own “skip intro”-style backlash?
Best Practices for AJAX development
It’s great to see developers starting to think seriously about what kind of best practices to use in javascript development. Developing with a loosy-goosy scripting language like JavaScript or ActionScript requires MORE code discipline, not less. Since the language doesn’t force you use best practices, you have to force yourself. Otherwise, someone will be stuck maintaining cruddy old code that nobody quite understands anymore. I’ve been there, and it’s no fun. Here are the highlights:
jonathanboutelle.com 