RE: Ajax Back/Forward History problem - saving document state by document.save()

-----Original Message-----
Sylvain Hellegouarch
Sent: Wednesday, December 07, 2005 5:08 PM
To: public-webapi@w3.org

>> So I submit that the addition of a tag or DOM method to handle
history 
>> in Ajax is a non-issue, and Mr. Heaton is correct, "Maybe we just
need 
>> to be smart about the way we design and develop our applications, and

>> a set of best practices perhaps."

>I agree overall but the problem is:

>Web application such as GMail, Flickr or else are already widely used,
most >web site developers want or are required to intoduce bits and
pieces of Web
>applications without actually being tagged as truely web applications
(they >can just be community portal or static pages with a twist of Ajax
stuff) >but the bottom line is that they are all hosted by the same
browser. They >are not considered by regular users as different.

>I mean, ask someone not in the IT field to define "Web application" and
I >don't think you'll get something as precise as we want to define
here.

>My point is that we should be careful when we try to put a distinction
>between web sites and web applications. As long as people will have to
go >through the same browser to use them, I think they won't see a
fundamental >difference between the two.

I agree, and disagree, in classic bipolar style.

On one hand, I agree that the casual, subtle conversion of web sites
into web applications will continue to lull the user into the illusion
of continuation of paradigm.  If you click on a link, and have the
perception of a normal user, you expect the next page to work just like
the last.  Links to information, or fields and a button.

On the other hand, there might be something to pointing out to the user
that they are about to launch an application.  Use of something to the
tune of "Click here to launch the XYZ application" would start to clue
the users in, but this group certainly can't enforce that.  

Nonetheless, it would certainly benefit everyone to begin to create some
kind of distinction, don't you think?  Should there be something that
creates a divide in the user's mind between reading and interacting, or
is that a bad idea?

S

Received on Tuesday, 3 January 2006 04:11:29 UTC