What is SaaS? 

Software as a Service (Saas) is a new delivery model where organizations pay for usage of software applications rather than purchasing specific licenses. Until recently SaaS was considered a technology of the future. It has since matured to a high level of acceptance and usability for a growing customer base that realizes the cost-saving benefits of software subscriptions. SaaS is a move away from the traditional term known as ASP (Application Service Provision), which concentrated on Web applications.

Increasingly, more and more software vendors and service providers are focusing primarily on the development of SaaS applications to meet evolving customer needs. The on-demand model of application delivery has gained momentum as a result of increased internet connection, improvements in remote access technologies, general increases in computing power and of course application streaming

What is Web 2.0?

Web 2.0 refers to “an emerging network-centric platform to support distributed, collaborative and cumulative creation by its users.” Each of these components can be revied individully to gain a better definition of Web 2.0:

Platform: Platform is an important concept because it suggests a foundation that is meant to be built upon rather than self-contained.

Emerging: It is emerging because it supports extensions to itself, facilitating a bootstrapping process to create very complex functionality from very simple building blocks. Web 2.0 is far from a finished product, it is a rapidly evolving platform.

Network-centric: In contrast to other technology platforms like PCs or mainframes, it is not a standalone platform, but instead Web 2.0 is built upon an open network, making it pervasive, extending across the entire globe. As a network-centric platform, it is device-independent – it is meant to be accessed by devices of all kinds, ranging from PCs and mobile phones to RFID tags and bio-sensor devices.

Creation: The ultimate purpose and significance of the platform is to support creation, not just communication or participation in sharing of interests. This is what makes it truly distinctive relative to previous generations of networks. This does not refer to the creation of media or digital products and services – this platform is becoming central to the creation of a broad range of physical products as well.

Users: Rather than viewing creation as a highly specialized activity, this platform encourages users of all types to become involved in the creation process.  The well-established boundaries between producers and consumers and professionals and amateurs are rapidly eroding.

Distributed: Because it is pervasive, Web 2.0 facilitates distributed creation – it doesn’t matter where the individuals or communities reside, they can access the platform.

Collaboration: Because it is built upon a network, it also enhances the potential for collaboration.  We are not talking about isolated nodes of creation, but instead the ability for individuals and communities to connect together in the creative process in ways that were never possible before.

Cumulative: Perhaps the most important aspect of this platform is that it encourages cumulative creation.  This stems from the modularity that is a key design principle of Web 2.0 and it has profound implications for creative activity.  It means that wherever and whenever creative activity occurs, it can be appropriated and built upon by others, further strengthening the bootstrapping process. Since what is being created is meant to be shared, it becomes less and less useful to think of the output as products and much more important to view the output as services that in turn support the creation of other services.

In many respects, Web 2.0 represents a return to origins of Internet.  The original goal of the pioneers developing and deploying the Internet was to connect researchers and their computers together so that they could more effectively pursue their research in distributed locations. 

The addition of the World Wide Web in the early 1990’s, despite the best intentions of its key developer, Tim Berners Lee, ended up representing a detour from that original vision.  Although there were certainly exceptions, Web 1.0 largely consisted of stand-alone web sites for specialized publishers and vendors seeking to more effectively reach audiences and consumers. It was a broadcast and distribution medium, rather than a creation medium.  Web 2.0 changes all that.

What is Flex?

Adobe Flex 2 delivers an integrated set of tools and technology enabling developers to build and deploy scalable rich Internet applications. Flex provides a modern, standards-based language supporting common design patterns and includes a client runtime, programming model, development environment, and advanced data services.

What is an RIA?

Many developers would like the ability to deploy a desktop-style application in a ”zero install” environment such as a web browser. RIAs are an attempt to enhance the capabilities of the web as a platform to deliver such experiences by augmenting it in various ways. Many of the more recent Web 2.0 collaborative communities such as YouTube and Flickr incorporate RIA-like features to give people a familiar desktop interface to browse and manage information.

A typical RIA application provides familiar systems such as menu bars,
drag and drop, double clicking and responsive interfaces while combining it with the depth and power of the web, including multimedia content and collaboration

What is an AIR application?

Adobe® AIR™, formerly code-named Apollo, is a cross-operating system runtime that allows developers to use their existing web development skills to build and deploy rich Internet applications to the desktop.

Loc8 3.0 that is currently under development provides complete AIR functionality.