Paul Graham advising Web 2.0 startups: “Never make users register, unless you need to in order to store something for them. If you do make users register, never make them wait for a confirmation link in an email; in fact, don't even ask for their email address unless you need it for some reason. Don't ask them any unnecessary questions. Never send them email unless they explicitly ask for it. Never frame pages you link to, or open them in new windows. If you have a free version and a pay version, don't make the free version too restricted. And if you find yourself asking "should we allow users to do x?" just answer "yes" whenever you're unsure. Err on the side of generosity.”
On the democratic nature of Web 2.0: “The most dramatic example of Web 2.0 democracy is not in the selection of ideas, but their production. Usage has not yet evolved to reflect this: the only phrases we have to describe the phenomenon are ones that implicitly assume the superiority of the old order, like "user-generated content," or "blogging" (neutral in itself, but revealingly condescending in its over-broad use).”
You won't find most of the second quote in the regular version of his essay: it's "commented-out" of the HTML. Always view source on Paul Graham's essays after reading them. A quibble with this particular essay though: Google set off the Ajax boom with Gmail, not Google Maps.
Good point, but actually
Richard — Tue, 2005-12-20 10:13Good point, but actually thinking about it a little more, Google Suggest might have been the one to tip programmers into thinking this Ajax thing might have a chance (even though it came out a few months after Gmail...). After reverse engineering Google Suggest in December 2004, people wanted to add it to their sites and hosted services.
The Google Maps API certainly helped spread *Google Maps*. But I contend that Gmail and Google Suggest, since they came out first and since they spurred hackers to figure out how Google did it first, deserver far more credit for the Ajax boom.
The thing is, Google Maps
Micah — Tue, 2005-12-20 06:25The thing is, Google Maps has an API. So it got people programming period, and programming with Ajax by extension.