Comments on: Open Source Projects Too Hard to Use? How About Mashed-Up Web 2.0 Apps? http://iconnectdots.com/2006/06/open_source_pro.html Guidance, Insight and Ideas in a Time of Accelerating Change Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:45:12 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: milkfilk http://iconnectdots.com/2006/06/open_source_pro.html/comment-page-1#comment-1065 milkfilk Mon, 02 Oct 2006 22:56:32 +0000 http://iconnectdots.com.s11974.gridserver.com/2006/06/open-source-projects-too-hard-to-use-how-about-mashed-up-web-20-apps.html#comment-1065 Fine, I'll admit that Salesforce is attractive for it's click and go functionality at $65/month per user but at some point that doesn't scale. In addition, I wonder what the trade off is. Apps like RSS readers and even graphically accelerated forum aggregators decentralize the webapp world. The browser is not perfect, even with DHTML keyboard shortcuts and AJAX. We run into new design problems. Take Magnolia CMS. It's all ajaxy and sexy. But when the server crashes, my browser doesn't realize it right away because the DOM model is in memory. I get all kinds of weird behavior (dialogs, strange views) because ... drum roll ... it's ajaxy and sexy. What would have been a 404 or "cannot find server" becomes a strange view that only I know is not quite right because it's failing in the background while my browser happily plays with in-memory data. No, this is yet another explosion-implosion pattern. We'll go to dumb web terminals only to come crawling back to decentralized PCs again, longing for localized power, sick of browser errors and network hiccups. Then we'll put it all in one place again when we want simplicity. It's the IT version of the universe's big-bang, big-crunch. Fine, I’ll admit that Salesforce is attractive for it’s click and go functionality at $65/month per user but at some point that doesn’t scale. In addition, I wonder what the trade off is.

Apps like RSS readers and even graphically accelerated forum aggregators decentralize the webapp world. The browser is not perfect, even with DHTML keyboard shortcuts and AJAX. We run into new design problems.

Take Magnolia CMS. It’s all ajaxy and sexy. But when the server crashes, my browser doesn’t realize it right away because the DOM model is in memory. I get all kinds of weird behavior (dialogs, strange views) because … drum roll … it’s ajaxy and sexy. What would have been a 404 or “cannot find server” becomes a strange view that only I know is not quite right because it’s failing in the background while my browser happily plays with in-memory data.

No, this is yet another explosion-implosion pattern. We’ll go to dumb web terminals only to come crawling back to decentralized PCs again, longing for localized power, sick of browser errors and network hiccups. Then we’ll put it all in one place again when we want simplicity. It’s the IT version of the universe’s big-bang, big-crunch.

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