Phil Windley has posted another really interesting Technometria podcast, this time featuring Joseph Smarr, the Chief Platform Architect of Plaxo:
http://itc.conversationsnetwork.org/shows/detail3593.html
Over the course of an hour Phil, Joseph and Scott Lemon cover a range of topics including (but not limited to):
- The differences between traditional applications and web applications.
- Creating efficient Javascript and the role of Javascript frameworks in this process.
- Why HTML/Javascript is a better approach than proprietary Rich Internet Applications (RIAs) such as Adobe Flash/AIR and Microsoft Silverlight.
- AJAX cross-site scripting opportunities and risks.
- New functionality in Firefox 3 and Internet Explorer 8 to enable better browser-level cross-site data transfer.
- Data portability of social networking graphs and the OpenSocial API.
Overall it is a great listen and it is refreshing to hear from someone who still believes traditional Web technologies like HTML and Javascript hold a great deal of potential. I cringe each time I hear proponents of Flash/AIR and Silverlight proclaim that these platforms will eventually dominate the Web. Sure the companies behind these technologies can give a great demonstration, but do we really want to turn the clock back twenty years to a world of closed development on one or two tightly controlled platforms?