AJAX and Web 2.0 - more than just buzzwords

A talk given at Boston CHI meeting
on November 8, 2005 by
Hagan Rivers of Two Rivers Consulting Corporation

Description

The buzz going ’round is that applications like Google
Maps, Flickr, Wikipedia,
and Housing Maps, are leading
the way to a new era in web site and web application design. These applications,
which make use of Ajax technologies, are all examples of Web 2.0 applications.
But what is Web 2.0? What is Ajax? Is there really a new era in web design
heading our way? Or is this just another hype like "Flash"? Hagan
will explain these terms, show examples of Web 2.0 sites, and get everyone
discussing just what it all means.

Downloads

• Presentation - A PDF copy of the presentation
  used in the talk (15.9M)

Links

Go looking for Ajax and Web 2.0 and you’ll find hoards of information. A
lot of it is geared toward engineers - designers are still on the fringes
of this discussion. These starting points will help.

Ajax

• Ajax:
  A New Approach to Web Applications - Jesse James Garrett’s
  seminal essay defining Ajax, February 18, 2005.
• Why
  Ajax matters Now - blog entry for Jesse James Garrett and
  very interesting discussion that follows.
• Wikipedia "Ajax" -
  encyclopedia of information.
• Ajax design patterns -
  reusable design elements.
• Ajax applications -
  examples in use now.
• Ajax
  gives software a fresh look - CNet News, October 4, 2005.
• Ajax’s
  Achilles Hell - What happens when JavaScript is disabled?
• 5
  Earth-Shattering Things You Should Know About Ajax And Probably
  Don’t - critique of Ajax and the fever around it, Dion Hinchcliffe,
  October 18, 2005.
• A Matrix of
  Mash-Ups: see what’s been attempted.
• AJAX:
  How to Handle Bookmarks and Back Buttons - by Brad Neuberg,
  October 26, 2005

• Ajax
  sweet spots - October 30, 2005 by Scott - A member of the Zimbra development
  team.

• Ajax blog

Ajax Examples

You may need to be running Firefox to view these demos.

• Backbase - be sure and click
  on Ajax demos and be sure you’re running Firefox

• Kiko
• MeasureMap
• Meebo
• Orangoo
• Protopage
• TimeTracker
• TurboDBAdmin
• Writely
• Zimbra

Web 2.0

• What Is Web 2.0
  - Design Patterns and Business Models for the Next Generation of
  Software - Dale Dougherty’s seminal essay defining Web 2, September
  30, 2005.
• Not
  2.0? - Tim Bray (of O’Reilly Media)’s blog
• Talis,
  Web 2.0 and All That - by Ian Davis, July 4, 2005 - discussion
  of Web 2.0 as an attitude, not a technology
• 10
  Issues Facing Web 2.0 Today - Dion Hinchcliffe, November 3,
  2005. Note the LONG list of really good articles on the left.

• Small
  is the new big - Jeff Jarvis, June 6, 2005
• The
  amorality of Web 2.0 - A derision of the Web 2.0 concept by Nicholas
  Carr October 3, 2005.
• Tim O’Reilly’s blog - many
  interesting articles, including a response to Nicholas Carr’s essay, above.
• We Are
  the Web - Kevin Kelly, Wired, August 13, 2005. Reflections on the
  web and where we are now.
• From
  Browse to Search to Subscribe - Charles Fitzgerald, Friday, June
  24, 2005. Musings on the shift from browsing to subscribing on the the
  internet. The author doesn’t specifically mention Web 2.0, but he is
  alluding to it.
• Web 2.0 Conference
  Coverage - links to articles in the media following the 2005 Web
  2.0 conference
• Welcome
  to Foo Camp - O’Reilly media’s annual, invitation only conference.
• What
  is a meme map? - Tim O’Reilly defines this tool.

 Web 2.0 Examples

• 43things
• A9
• Del.icio.us
• Flickr
• Housing Maps
• JotSpot
• Upcoming