Blist, the Flex web-based database opens up today

Summary: Blist, one of my favorite rich Internet applications, showed off their stuff at DEMO today and should be opening their doors very soon (see my photo gallery). I'm hoping to have some invites to give away so when I do, I'll be posting it on Twitter.

By Ryan Stewart for The Universal Desktop | January 29, 2008 -- 18:10 GMT (10:10 PST)

Blist, one of my favorite rich Internet applications, showed off their stuff at DEMO today and should be opening their doors very soon (see my photo gallery). I'm hoping to have some invites to give away so when I do, I'll be posting it on Twitter. Their presentation today got quite a bit of attention and they got writeups in Webware, Between the Lines, PC World, and Down the Avenue. It's a great application and the general consensus is that it's a "database for the rest of us".

What a fantastic day for rich Internet applications. RIAs don't have to be complex, heavy, applications. On the contrary one of the things that makes RIAs so great is that you can create an intuitive and simple user interface because of the power of RIA platforms. That's what Blist accomplishes. It took a technology, databases, and used Flex to bring it to the masses. They focused on creating a great, easy to use, web-based application and chose Flex to do it. Today they get to start reaping the benefits.

Blist is a Seattle based company, so I obviously have a keen interest in seeing them succeed. Kevin Merritt, the CEO, is a very, very smart guy. If you're a developer looking to get in on a great RIA, check out the Blist job listings.

Topic: Browser

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Interesting demoware. Now, if you need to build a Web database today ...

More correctly, it's a pre-beta, non-public database, so it's not presently "for the rest of us." And even when it does go public, here's betting developers hit the wall pretty quickly when trying to address anything other than lightweight requirements. Perhaps I'm wrong, but so far, all the Web-based databases and spreadsheets I've seen have proven lightweight. Yes, one day they'll grow up. But for now, right now, today, people who want to build, deploy, and manage professional-grade Web databases using skills they already have (i.e., Excel, Access, FileMaker) should give our database, Alpha Five, a serious look. You can build desktop or Web databases with ease, and the platform won't run out of gas when you need to add features or scale it up. It's not demoware, pre-beta, beta, version 1.x, limited to 10 simultaneous users, etc. It's at version 8, has a 25+ year lineage, and SHIPPING NOW. http://www.alphasoftware.com for anyone who is interested. Our Web site isn't the prettiest (we're working on that!), but our database rocks. And RYAN, if you'd like to give it spin, ping me, and I'll arrange for a reviewer kit to be sent. (Yes, I flack for Alpha Software.)

alphaflack@...

30 January, 2008 09:14

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