[Sigia-l] Re: DISCUSSION: AJAX (was reset button - aagghhh)

[Trenouth, John]

Dave Heller wrote:

>even though AJAX is not new it still has the feel of a new technology
>in many cultural ways.

So doe this feel new, and in what cultural ways?  I really don't know
what you're saying, and I could not find on your website or paper where
you explain further.  I can see how the marketing hype is new, and the
buzzword is certainly new.  Are you say that this is sufficient to make
a technology "feel new"??  But talk of the wonderful fabric doesn't mean
the emperor is wearing clothes.  

You say on your website that "...other environmental variables have been
put in place to make AJAX consumable."  And again I could not find where
you unpack these loaded terms to make it clear what you mean.  What are
these environmental variables?  Put in what place?  By whom?  How do
they make AJAX consumable?  Did AJAX exist before it was consumable?
Your pdf never explains.  

Presumably, if it's the environment that has changed (as your claim
suggests), then this collection of old technology branded AJAX is
irrelevant because what's really important is social evolution.  But
since I couldn't find where you again talk about these "environmental
variable" I couldn't make sense of your claim.

My initial reaction is that the buzz is nonsense.  All of the AJAX
branded technologies have been available and in use for several years (I
think UIE even linked to you Broadmoor Hotel example back in 2002), and
several browser generations.  You even acknowledge this, admitting that
IE 4.5 was capable of basic AJAX functionality.  Indeed Microsoft did
published a number of sample websites to show off this functionality
with an early XML package for IE. 

So what is so buzzworthy here?  What can designers and developers build
today that was technically not possible last year, 2 years ago, 5 years
ago?  Since I'm not completely immersed in the minutia of web
development its very likely I'm missing something and my skepticism is
entirely misguided.  But its hard not to be skeptical as the web 2.0
hype machines fire up and it all starts to smell a lot like web 1999.  

PS.
This will sound nipicky, but the deep red color you chose for the text
in your paper was uncomfortable to read because it caused me a fair bit
of eye strain.  Perhaps its just my monitor.