Direct from Web 2.0

Why is Ajax So Special?

April 13, 2006 – 10:48 pm by coachwei | Category Main Page | No Comments »

Jeremy Geelan(http://java.sys-con.com/author/3geelan.htm) sent me an email saying:

Not since the formation of NATO in 1945 have four letters been combined to such globe-spanning effect, nor has any 4-letter acronym since then been the subject of such hyperbole - quod erat demonstrandum.

I refer of course to “AJAX.”
So why is Ajax so special?

Unfortunately for someone who has been involved with “Ajax” for a long time, it is not sepcial at all :-)  Here is my quick thought in response to Jeremy's question:

Fundamentally, the “Ajax” phenomena reflects an “eye opening” realization of what the web can be for the millions, instead of being a fascination of JavaScript/DHTML per se. For the last ten years, the millions of netizens have accepted the web’s “click and refresh” experience as “that is the way it has to be”. In the background, there are various techies (for example, during 1998 and 1999, I wrote a word processor hosted at www.ajaxword.com, and there were startups like webos.com, desktop.com and halfbrain.com, all doing “Ajax” stuff in a much more polished way than most of the Ajax apps you would see today) screaming for a better web. These techies are loners. The market was not ready and the millions of netizens were not even thinking of something different. I clearly remember myself talking to some well known executives in software companies in 2000 and 2001 about the “problems of the web” and they were like “huh?”. The true tipping point is due to applications like Google Maps. Apps like GoogleMap woke up the millions. For the first time, the millions of people realized how better the web can be. The better web is exciting – it is faster, it doesn’t require constant “click wait and refresh”. For the first time, the millions realized life can be so much better. Then the acronym “Ajax” came along and then the excitement around Ajax came along.

 On the other side, forget about “ajax”. The truly exciting thing is about “web 2.0”. The next generation web and the opportunities that it creates. The web will be more responsive, smoother and reliable. It would be more enjoyable to work with. It would unleash a new set of business opportunities that were not possible before. Look at the various exciting companies, ranging from RIA infrastructure/tool companies; new e-commerce/airline ticket booking companies, new media companies. A new level of excitement of VC interest is starting to emerge.

In summary, the fascination is not about the acronym “Ajax” per se. The excitement is about what the web can be and it can do, in ways that are so different but so much better than what we have been used to. The excitement is really about what this “new” web can enable.