Macromedia, before it was purchased by Adobe, started touting the concept of a Rich Internet Application back in 2002. Now, almost 6 years later, I believe that concept has hit fruition with the introduction of Adobe AIR, where the desktop and the web has really converged. The lines between the web and the desktop continue to blur. This can only be a good thing.

Why is this a good thing? If we look at what the web is at its core, then we see a relatively simple environment with very simple interactivity. You've got links, radio buttons, checkboxes, drop downs and text boxes. These interactions are much simpler than anything you might expect from the desktop world where we have complex interactions like tree views, toolbars and so on.

As browsers have progressed and users' expectations have increased, we are seeing new potential to push the boundaries of interactivity on the web and beyond. Pushing the boundaries offers up new opportunities for designers and developers to build more powerful, more exciting and more usable applications for our clients and customers. Drag and drop interactions, tabbed interfaces, along with the immediacy of Ajax have given the web much more flexibility than it has ever have. The richness is finally there.

Developers have also worked hard to normalize the differences between the browsers and platforms, creating consistent APIs (through popular JavaScript libraries) for which other developers can more quickly and more reliably build these rich applications.

My name is Jonathan Snook and I'm a freelance developer who has spent a number of years building sites and applications. I, along with my fellow bloggers here at InsideRIA, will be sharing our thoughts, techniques and visions on rich internet applications and I hope you'll enjoy what we have to say.

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