Word to the Wired: Rich Internet Applications

摘要

Creating a web-based application that fully matches the speed, functionality and interactivity of a popular desktop software environment -- like Microsoft Word or Mac OSX and Apple's range of consumer devices -- has long been the dream scenario for web developers. Although the Web has delivered us a world of access convenience irrespective of location, that online experience is actually often more time-consuming, less intuitive and more frustrating than we should expect. Even in the era of fast broadband, trying to use the web version of your email, or writing a document in one of the new breed of online document management systems, can feel like either doing brain surgery in boxing gloves, or going back to the typewriter era. These online servicesjust don't behave with the slickness their desktop counterparts display: most still use an entire web page that must be fully refreshed after actions are taken, with a delay until confirmation appears. In short, everything online continues to come with the kind of "World Wide Wait" that was annoying back in 1 999, let alone ten years on.