OpenAjax.Com

One of my favorite bloggers is Robert Scoble . Not just because he is smart, popular, and handsome. (Well 2 out of three aint bad) Because he tells it like it is. And he does it well.

I was at a Web 2.0 conference this week, and my intention was to blog on it every day to help generate a community, but I had to wait until now. How in the HELL does he charm all the dirt on new tech and still have energy to blog? I recently had a very bad experience with U.S. Airways, but I would be afraid to hear some of the horror stories Scoble could dredge up.

Here is what I learned at the Ajax Experience : There is a jihad going on in the web development community and we are ALL going to loose.

1. There was a browser war. Microsoft won
2. We are in the middle of another
3. The Javascript language is being used as the foremost weapon
4. Adding ANY new feature to the web can be argued it has a chance to cause harm
5. Time benefits entrenched companies to keep the status quo and not change

Here are the players

• Microsoft: I can not find ANYTHING on what is really going on. NO ONE at the conference trusted them. If they want developers, developers, developers then they should be more transparent. Will XAML interfere with Open Ajax?
• Yahoo: I tended to believe Douglas Crockford that the new Javascript language is akin to ‘the ghost of Netscape’ and may be bloated. However, adding CLASSES to JavaScript is NOT a bad thing and computer scientists should not be afraid to add new features. I am am also cynical that Yahoo may still be promoting IE.
• Mozilla: How exactly did the current Ecmascript 4 proposal get through the committee ?
• Adobe: A breath of fresh AIR, but what is the partnership with Mozilla? I think it is great that such a mature scripting engine was donated, but wonder the business objective.
• AOL: Thanks for supporting the conference and especially Dojo! Where can we find information on the agreement?
• Sun: jMaki is kewl. What exactly is JavaFx in the new web?
• Apple: Um… where were you? For that matter, where were reps for Facebook and MySpace?
• Framework vendors: Why exactly is your framework better than the other TWO HUNDRED Ajax vendors out there? Please be specific because you are asking me to spend my time and money on your proprietary system and there are many Open Source solutions out there.
• Google: They claimed to want more developers, but they were not very approachable. Dion was nice however, although hard to talk to just because he was so busy!
• IBM: Jon Ferraiolo has done a GREAT job with Open Ajax, but I do wish he could understand there is more than the corporate way to contribute.

There are A LOT of accusations of backroom deals being made. Can anyone make a clear statement addressing this? The first company to get the trust of the developers will win, and I intend to do everything I can to support true OpenAjax.

I am here at the Ajax Experience to find some developers to help me with the vision of what OpenAjax.Com can become.

It is interesting to see the mix of people here compared to other conferences.  There are different vendors, and a mux of knurds.  It is nice to see  more of the gentler gender here - IT is generally a male dominated sport:  A silicon ceiling if you will.  I would love to see that change - maybe when Hilary becomes president.

Is it too geeky to take pictures?  I LOVE the web and I want just jump over to the Google booth and ask if I can get a group photo (and Microsoft, and IBM, and ….) - I am about OPEN Ajax after all!

I will try to post during the day on my Experience.