If you aren’t reading Anne Zelenka you’re missing out

On RedMonk goodness. For those of you that don’t know, Anne the RedNun is an associate analyst we’re proud to call a colleague.

Anne will be covering mostly AJAX and web stuff for us, and her RedMonk channel, Tech Decentral, is really beginning to establish the rhythm which marks out must read blogs, the feel of a cadence, an approach and a distinct voice, talking with confidence and authority.  

Recent posts worth checking out include:

How About a Hosted, Browser-Based Ruby Blogging and Feed Mixing Platform.

Why hasn’t anyone come out with a decent browser-based IDE? When I modify my WordPress files it’s such a hassle to edit and test the PHP code, because all I have online is a text editor. I usually edit it commando-style, trying a change and then seeing if it works–sometimes breaking my blog in the process. I’m too lazy to do it offline. And why doesn’t it incorporate an ability to query my MySQL database right there? I can’t for the life of me figure out what happened to my categories… but I’m too time-pressed to SSH over to the server and run some SQL directly.

Integrating Desktop and Web Apps with an Office Suite (Or, OLE 2.0)

I believe that browser-based apps are the way forward. They remove so much friction from computing. And even more important, they put the emphasis on information and data and navigability rather than on the application itself. Google Reader is a good example: the interface packs tons of information about unread items into your browser window. Then it gives you keyboard access to move through those items quickly. At any time, you can move externally to seemingly infinite sources of information via the links in the articles.

But it’s obvious that there are situations when a desktop application is the only way to go. Right now, if you are a graphic designer, you’re not going to use picnik to edit your photos. You’ll use Adobe PhotoShop. If you are writing long, heavily-formatted documents, you’ll use Microsoft Office or something similar, not Google Docs & Spreadsheets or Zoho Writer. If you’re a software developer, you’re using a desktop IDE like Eclipse or NetBeans, not entering code into a browser-based code editor.

And Anne’s thoughts on Sun’s analyst show last week – How to Get People to Think Cool Thoughts–Or Any Thoughts at All–About Sun.

Here’s what I’m envisioning: an online site with a browser-based development tool, possibly based somehow on the NetBeans code base or at least using the same UI concepts, that allows developers to experiment with the mobile Java platform, perhaps generate a little mobile program, and then post it for people to download onto their phones or PDAs. Make it so that the developers of the mobile apps can be contacted by distributors (e.g., wireless companies) so that they can license their creations for sale. Create a way for one-man or one-woman shows to learn the Java platform at the same time that they start a business.