We at Radar have been pondering and playing with AjaxWrite and AjaxSketch. Our conclusion is that they’re remarkable for what they are, but disappointing for what they are not.
The AjaxWrite web page describes its features as:
- Global access, all you need is an internet connection
- Platform independent, you can use it with any operating system
- Automatic updates and upgrades, no more computer restarts or missed patches/updates
- Server side management — all the busywork is done for you
However, these are the features that we on Radar expect to see in web apps:
- Save on server, you can access your files from anywhere and not just the application
- Multiuser, with revision control
- Simultaneous edits
- Integration with the rest of the web, through RSS feeds, REST APIs, etc.
For example, AjaxWrite is a great way to create a Word document on my machine. And I’m sure there will be people for whom this is a great and freeing thing. But it completely fails to take advantage of the Internet that it’s connected to–AjaxWrite is no more aware of the network than Microsoft Word 1.0 was. All the stated benefits of AjaxWrite could be reaped by putting a Microsoft Windows share open for all the Internet to run Microsoft Word from, because they’re only using the network to deliver the application rather than using the network to improve the application.
I don’t mean in any way to diminish what AjaxWrite is: it’s a great word processor. It might well replace Word from the machines of people who want to edit their own documents and never need to share them. I see great value in raising the bar for the software and features that a user can get for free. I wonder whether people who can’t afford Word can afford the network access that web apps need–is the target audience only schools in the US? If you can get it, though, AjaxWrite makes a great Word document editor.
I must confess to having been spoiled by Writely. I build all my conferences through Writely documents; letters from the conference chair, draft programs, brochure copy, web site text, and more are all collaboratively developed in Writely. If I ever see another Word file with a datestamp or the initials of the person who last edited it, it’ll be too soon. Not all of the Radar team have my proselyte’s zeal for Writely, but we all felt the gap between what AjaxWrite is and what it could be.
Writely’s shown us how good web office apps can be. We can’t go back to a single-user network-blind word processor, even one as good as AjaxWrite.