AJAX…its origins & marketing

AJAX has produced pretty good buzz of late. AdaptivePath is to thank for bringing a cool technology to a lot of attention. The supporting technology for AJAX has been around awhile though. Even now there is little or no mention that Microsoft’s Outlook Web Client used this for a number of years. Google is doing some pretty cool stuff with the technology–especially with GMAIL.
IMHO the cooler lesson is the marketing…or is PR a better term.

There appears to me that there is a new generation of web designers who have remixed technology into something newer and cooler…..something that allows you to think about what you’re doing instead of the plumbing! Just checkout Ruby on Rails, Basecamp/Backpack/TaDa List and WordPress even.

Underneath most of this I think you’ll find signs of a reinvented Apple 😉

Can’t remember if it was Udell or OReilly who came up with the analogy where Microsoft and Apple actually need each other. Microsoft is this big lumbering offensive line on a football team. And Apple is the smaller agile running back breaking through the blocks to gain major yards!