I am fascinated by the new AJAX applications (e.g., gOffice). I don’t understand exactly how software of this type is written and I am fascinated by those who spend what must be a tremendous abount of their time on projects with no obvious compensation (I do recognize the value of satisfying the creative urge, but I personally can satisify this drive with only a couple of hours of time).
My newest interest in Writely.
For the uninitiated, this type of application resides on the “net” and operates on your machine within a standard browser. It is similar to what I used to understand the term “thin client” to imply (a machine with no harddrive requiring that all apps be downloaded into memory as needed).
So, Writely allows you to access a browser whenever and from where ever you might want to work. Writely has two features I did not understand to exist in gOffice. First, you can store files in RTF format and you can get them to your personal machine when you want. Second, Writely has been developed to encourage collaborate efforts – i.e., you can work on a document remotely with colleagues and not have to send the document back and forth (the copy you see is the existing version of the document). I would think an app of this nature would of interest to K-12 teachers wanting to engage their students in collaborative writing activities.
