Tim Lee

Ajax Revolution

I’ve raved before about the Google’s recent crop of richly interactive applications. The “technology” (really, collection of old technologies that have finally matured to the point where they’re usable) behind these has been christened “Ajax.”

So here’s the latest amazing application in the Ajax tool suite: Meebo. Meebo is a multi-protocol chat client like Trillian and Fire. But unlike those programs, which are applications for desktop operating systems, Meebo is entirely web-based. If you use instant messaging, I suggest you give it a try. The level of interactivity it offers is stunning.

This is what Google Talk should have been. True, they probably couldn’t have done the voice-communication this way, so a desktop application may have been inevitable. But on the other hand, doing an Ajax IM client would have been so much more impressive than implementing yet another Windows IM client.

“Ajax” is a word you’re going to hear a lot in the coming year. If I owned a traditional web-based application (MapQuest and HotMail, I’m looking at you), I would be very worried right now. Once users start to discover what a truly interactive website looks like, they’re going to be increasingly dissatisfied with the “point, click, and wait” model. There are dozens of opportunities right now for startups to steal a significant chunk of market share by being the first to market with a particular kind of Ajax application.

January 27, 2006 | Comments |

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    Hmm. I've played with this a few times and the problem I kept having was that since I'm a FF user, I kept accidentally closing the tab Meebo was open in. Also, due to FF excessive memory leakage, I have a habit of closing and reopening every hour or so...signing in all over again is a hassle.





    All in all, it's a good idea, but with some things (IM clients), my habits are so hardwired, that a desktop client (miranda, trillian, gaim) suits my needs much better.






    Your general point re:Ajax is true...though I think there are an increasing number of "wow Ajax" apps that aren't very unique or useful in any way (i.e. the dozens of Ajax start pages). Moreover, there are privacy issues (especially with this sort of application, or email clients) which aren't always clarified by the vendors, as well as dependancy issues (i.e. network stability, offline work etc). I do think Ajax applications will continue to show innovation and change the way people interact online, but there is a lot of garbage that will have to be sorted through.

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    naiserie:

    Excellent points! Like you, I plan to stick with my desktop IM client for now as well, but I think this clearly shows how much functionality the latest browsers have built-in.

    And yeah, there's likely to be a lot of chaff to go along with the wheat here, but then, there's never been a revolution that wasn't messy, has there?
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    And yeah, there's likely to be a lot of chaff to go along with the wheat here, but then, there's never been a revolution that wasn't messy, has there?
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    Excellent points! Like you, I plan to stick with my desktop IM client for now as well, but I think this clearly shows how much functionality the latest browsers have built-in.
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