Comments on: RIAs, Dumb Terminals and Business Applications http://gregsramblings.com/2008/01/31/rias-dumb-terminals-and-business-applications/ Adobe, Technology, Photography, Aviation and other Ramblings Tue, 15 May 2012 19:46:48 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: No specific plans for offline capabilities in Silverlight? « Greg Wilson’s Ramblings http://gregsramblings.com/2008/01/31/rias-dumb-terminals-and-business-applications/#comment-2011 No specific plans for offline capabilities in Silverlight? « Greg Wilson’s Ramblings Tue, 04 Mar 2008 00:36:29 +0000 http://gregsramblings.com/?p=68#comment-2011 [...] the application I describe in RIAs, Dumb Terminals and Business Applications, the offline capability is an important aspect of the enterprise application, even for connected [...] [...] the application I describe in RIAs, Dumb Terminals and Business Applications, the offline capability is an important aspect of the enterprise application, even for connected [...]

]]> By: Jeff Kalicki http://gregsramblings.com/2008/01/31/rias-dumb-terminals-and-business-applications/#comment-2010 Jeff Kalicki Wed, 13 Feb 2008 20:06:12 +0000 http://gregsramblings.com/?p=68#comment-2010 A great article Greg! I think you raise some excellent points to how new technology applies to business applications and how effective it can be…if done right or ineffective if done wrong! I think the term “Putting Lipstick on a Pig” comes to mind . I think your concept of UVD and UCT are sound theories. The formula’s may not be a science by any stretch but having worked in this business for some time now I am ashamed to say how many times I have witnessed and been forced to participate in the process of applying “Lipstick”. As a matter of fact one of the business applications that I work with as a part of my job has just been recently “upgraded” to be a RIA. The result is an application that is LESS functional than the HTML version based one. (Although now I have fancy screen transitions as I mercifully click around the application to try and solve my needs.) I think one of the profound statements you make is “..first we have to take a step back to recognize the rules are completely different”. Any development effort to build a RIA should…no must take this step to be successful. If you think about how many of the first green screen applications were primarily developed to mimic the paper process and get the data into a database. From there developers mimicked those applications into web applications applying the limitations of the first process plus those of the browser etc…and now many are at it again with RIA. While technologies like Flex and AIR remove many of the technology limitations and open so many other opportunities, many companies are not taking the opportunity to remove the limitations imposed in prior designs but instead focus their immediate concern is “How much is it going to cost me to convert my HTML application to a Flex application and how fast can we have it done! So in essence how much will it cost me to build a new application that could impose limitations to my users because of previously used technology that no longer applies! It doesn’t make sense. (oh and btw make it snappy.) That is where I think your concept of UVD and UCT come into play. But just as important as data being available to users I think it is paramount to step back and re-think how the users interact with an application as part of their jobs. This is how we make better business applications! Just investing in a RIA for your business application does not make it better. Companies need to invest in rethinking their applications and using these new technologies that have broken down the barriers imposed by dumb terminals, browsers and low bandwidth and create a new breed of business applications that will truly allow them to create “Killer Business Applications”! Good Job…Look forward to more! -Jeff A great article Greg! I think you raise some excellent points to how new technology applies to business applications and how effective it can be…if done right or ineffective if done wrong! I think the term “Putting Lipstick on a Pig” comes to mind .

I think your concept of UVD and UCT are sound theories. The formula’s may not be a science by any stretch but having worked in this business for some time now I am ashamed to say how many times I have witnessed and been forced to participate in the process of applying “Lipstick”. As a matter of fact one of the business applications that I work with as a part of my job has just been recently “upgraded” to be a RIA. The result is an application that is LESS functional than the HTML version based one. (Although now I have fancy screen transitions as I mercifully click around the application to try and solve my needs.)

I think one of the profound statements you make is “..first we have to take a step back to recognize the rules are completely different”. Any development effort to build a RIA should…no must take this step to be successful. If you think about how many of the first green screen applications were primarily developed to mimic the paper process and get the data into a database. From there developers mimicked those applications into web applications applying the limitations of the first process plus those of the browser etc…and now many are at it again with RIA. While technologies like Flex and AIR remove many of the technology limitations and open so many other opportunities, many companies are not taking the opportunity to remove the limitations imposed in prior designs but instead focus their immediate concern is “How much is it going to cost me to convert my HTML application to a Flex application and how fast can we have it done! So in essence how much will it cost me to build a new application that could impose limitations to my users because of previously used technology that no longer applies! It doesn’t make sense. (oh and btw make it snappy.)

That is where I think your concept of UVD and UCT come into play. But just as important as data being available to users I think it is paramount to step back and re-think how the users interact with an application as part of their jobs. This is how we make better business applications! Just investing in a RIA for your business application does not make it better. Companies need to invest in rethinking their applications and using these new technologies that have broken down the barriers imposed by dumb terminals, browsers and low bandwidth and create a new breed of business applications that will truly allow them to create “Killer Business Applications”!

Good Job…Look forward to more!
-Jeff

]]> By: Shone Sadler http://gregsramblings.com/2008/01/31/rias-dumb-terminals-and-business-applications/#comment-2009 Shone Sadler Sun, 10 Feb 2008 13:49:12 +0000 http://gregsramblings.com/?p=68#comment-2009 Some excellent points Greg! Having worked with you in the past and in fact at that same call center you mention (i.e. not close to being as old though ;-) I definitely understand the different types of constraints and requirements that we have within the enterprise where speed and efficiency are high priority concerns. I believe this is the first article I have read thus far that that directly hits on this topic of the enterprise perspective in a Web2.0/RIA world. Hopefully you will have many more to follow ;-) The other big thing that comes to mind for me that is different for the enterprise is security. In many industries the possibility of data getting into the wrong hands is a huge concern and in that respect PDF, with its abilities around encryption, signatures, and rights management is huge enabler for companies both internally and when reaching out to their customers, partners, and other constituents. I expect we will see an increase in the trend around the usage of PDF and similar technologies as enterprises become Web2.0 enabled and begin reaching futher out of their corporate boundaries. Anyway, a good read! Thanks! Some excellent points Greg! Having worked with you in the past and in fact at that same call center you mention (i.e. not close to being as old though ;-) I definitely understand the different types of constraints and requirements that we have within the enterprise where speed and efficiency are high priority concerns. I believe this is the first article I have read thus far that that directly hits on this topic of the enterprise perspective in a Web2.0/RIA world. Hopefully you will have many more to follow ;-) The other big thing that comes to mind for me that is different for the enterprise is security. In many industries the possibility of data getting into the wrong hands is a huge concern and in that respect PDF, with its abilities around encryption, signatures, and rights management is huge enabler for companies both internally and when reaching out to their customers, partners, and other constituents. I expect we will see an increase in the trend around the usage of PDF and similar technologies as enterprises become Web2.0 enabled and begin reaching futher out of their corporate boundaries.

Anyway, a good read! Thanks!

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