#8 - Is web 2.0 changing the web?
With all the new hype and emphasis on Web2.0 and AJAX, do you think that the
web is changing? Or is how we approach sites and what clients want them to
do changing?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ajax_(programming)
Dave Johnson - Davidj.org - The browser has become an application platform. Instead of displaying brochure-based web sites, it is insisted we create programs to run ubiquitously.
To me, Web 2.0 is the hype of rounded corners and drop shadows while AJAX is the guts inside of usable web applications. It was 6 to 8 years ago when sprinkling JavaScript on a site gave it the Wow factor. DHTML was next in line for providing deeper usability. I am excited about the power that an XMLHTTPRequest can bring.
Unfortunately, a visit to ASP.net’s AJAX tutorials will show you how to do rounded corners and drop shadows through drag-and-drop controls. This leads to the confusion of what is AJAX and what is Web 2.0. Hopefully, the understanding of the simple JavaScript calls behind AJAX will allow us as developers to use it wisely and to steer clients in directions that herald usability over hype.
Eric Smith - Mind Architecture - Personally, I like the “software as a service” design model and web services in general. It’s much easier to deploy, update, and maintain control over code deployed via the internet and users are no longer tied to one software installation on a particular computer as they can log-in and use an application from wherever they have access to the internet.
The resurgence of the technology behind Ajax makes designing internet based applications to function as desktop application users have come to expect much easier and has meant a lot to the growth of Web 2.0.
But, in the short term I don’t think it will have much effect on web design and development. Clients will want sites to do increasingly more complex things, but I think the types of sites that will benefit most from Ajax and Web 2.0 design are going to be designed by startups rather than requested by your typical web design client.
Sure, it would be slick to have an Ajax-based shopping cart on a site but that will probably be implemented through some third-party application as an Ajax custom design will be pricier than your standard shopping cart.
If the technology isn’t usurped and remains popular, I think clients will start to see and request Ajax implemented features but that probably won’t come in the near future.
Stephen Schneider - Mind Architecture - Changing yes, but not in the ways you may thing. I see it changing things in that the average person is seeing what can be done and getting interested in it. People aren’t accepting plain static websites any more. This is a good thing. Sure, the technology has been around for awhile and it’s not anything earth shattering. But isn’t that how most technology changes are?