The Future of Interactive Web Sites - Web 2.0 and Ajax

Last Updated: June 5th, 2006
WebsiteAlive Editor Christin Gulick contributed to this article.

Doesn't this just sound so futurustic – Web 2.0, the Future of the Web? In reality, it’s already here, today, and it’s coming to a web site near you. Web 2.0 describes the second generation of interactive websites, including everything from community blogs to wikis, that provides the user a more interactive environment than they have ever experienced. Whereas the first generation of interactivity alluded to more control of the user over the web site (like Amazon), in reality the user was only provided information based on a preset algorithm that ‘guessed’ at what the user really wanted to see and/or interact with.

Web 2.0 is different, building upon the idea of user control and feedback, but taking it further into fruition. In a Web 2.0 environment, the user really does control what they see, who they see, and when they see it. Social networks form the true basis of the Web 2.0 world, wherein users control the focus, evolution, and content of a website. Popular sites like MySpace and Wikipedia already reap the benefits of this next generation of websites (both monetarily and developmentally). Web 2.0 web sites are in the true sense "Powered by the People".

So why should you, the consumer and ultimately user of these sites, be excited over the growth and forthcoming abundant amount of Web 2.0 sites? Quite simply, they will also belong to you! As a user, you contribute to the content of the site – by voting on news stories, submitting articles for review by your peers, adding your own blog content, and much more. Eventually, based upon the users of the site, a natural evolution of content takes place. Particular types and topics of news stories become consistent, the overall feel of the site becomes streamlined, and the community that created it all takes over. The more the site is used, the better it gets. A mold is cast, the filler gets poured in, and as a result, the site is constructed into something that the people want it to be.

The catalystic engine for this new web platform can be accredited to a little thing that sounds an awful lot like a household cleaner – Ajax. Ajax, short for Asynchronous JavaScript and XML, allows websites to respond faster to user requests than standard web pages. Traditionally, whenever a user asks the website to change something within itself, the website must force the browser to reload the page in order for the change to take effect. Not so with Ajax, where when a user asks the website to update something, it changes it right then and there – no reloading required. This one little ability makes Ajax one of the most powerful tools of web programmers today. Not only can they make a website seem faster, but they can also make it work better. Some web sites you may have already experienced an Ajax implementation are Google Maps, Flickr, Kiko, and Gmail.

In essence, Ajax allows web applications to perform much like desktop applications. With this type of design, many new applications and business models have sprung up which allow the customer to access a web application through any standard web browser. Now with nothing to download and install, vendors are offering instant deployment time versus enterprise software which may take much longer to install, test, and deploy. Also known as the On-Demand model, upgrades and patches are seamless, and require little user intervention. Maintenance is virtually invisible to the end-user because the service provider performs all the necessary server/database/network management duties. Now Web 2.0 powered by Ajax has the ability to serve many, many customers simultaneously through a shared, distributed computing business model, consumers will reap the benefits of cost savings due to economies of scale.

WebsiteAlive is a cutting-edge live chat software company that is betting on this technology as it transforms the future of the web. Currently, WebsiteAlive offers software solutions with an On-Demand model which offers cost savings and high feature availability for customers. The next generation of AliveChat (version 4) will utilize Web 2.0 principles powered by Ajax technology which will yield quicker response times and overall better user experience as time progresses.

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