Comments on: The do-it-yourself Web emerges

New services from fledging start-ups enable people to build Web applications themselves, which pundits say will unleash creativity.

[rturner2]

another do-it-yourself product...

...is from Webation (http://www.webation.com). I have used their Webation Active product and it is really easy, flexible and powerful.

[Europodboy]

Or just buy a mac

Or just buy a Mac and get iLife which includes iWeb for free. -
Sorted!

Community Trail Guides

WikiWalki www.wikiwalki.com is a sports community trail guide - worth checking out.

[tipper_gore]

over rated

A lot of these diy "website builder" products seem a little over rated to me. I go in expecting a lot and it ends up being basic word processing.

[rturner2]

I agree...

I agree that most are very bad... they throw in a rich text editor and then call it a "web site builder"! Or each page is limited in the content that you can put on the page.

Try Webation Active from Webation (http://www.webation.com) which is more flexible and powerful. You can even design your own HTML layouts and link to the Webation Active platform via XML / XSL to allow easy updating for a non-technical user.

[EggInternet]

Cool tool ? MotorMapUSA.com

Searching for cars on eBay has never been so easy
Google Maps + eBay Motors Mashup = www.MotorMapUSA.com

New site shows the bargains on eBay to help people easily find their dream car, at dream prices, instantly searching through local and national markets and displaying the auto?s locations on a map.

[rturner2]

Business model

"Many new hosted service companies have not yet thoroughly tested their business models, which is a risk to customers and their data. In general, so-called Web 2.0 companies tend to rely on ad revenue or subscriptions to finance their operations. "
- I know that Webation (www.webation.com) has been operating profitably for over 5 years and does not support themselves via advertising.

Is this tested enough O'Kelly re: 5 years in a technology business?

I believe it is important to realise that the market is split between new "web 2.0" companies that are offering free services and then more mature companies offering non-free, non-hype products to business users that expect and want to pay for reliability and mature / tested products.

There are many web development companies that sell products (eg. web site builders, CMS etc) and services that are very profitable.

[huddie klein]

Blah Blah

In the end this is not going to change anything, because what's most important about a website is interesting, usefull or artistic content. No diy-tool will help you to do that...

[margritlb]

No big deal

The big web hosting companies all offer some sort of website
creation too. And boy, are those sites ugly! The web creation
tools are ok (i supposed) for people who just want to put
something up on the web for fun. But anyone who wants
credibility on the web should hire a designer. Decent web
designers can do more than html. They can actually plan a
design around the content and goals of the person/business
behind the site.
Tools like this just help the proliferation of bad design and bad
content. Thankfully, Google puts those way down on their page
rank and we're likely to never see them.

[JoeCrow]

Dotso.com is a favourite mashup of mine ...

Dotso.com is a great mash I use regularly. Check it out if you like your news in the one spot.

[Msteffen]

a more developed system than Coghead to build web-based business apps

Recently, the idea of building custom business applications has become ?trendy.? Virtually overnight two systems, ZoHo Creator and Coghead, have been getting a lot of attention from bloggers and the media. However, people are overlooking the most time-tested source of web-based platforms for custom-build PM solution platforms. There has been a system on the market for over 5 years successfully doing the same thing ZoHo Creator and Coghead aim to do. This system is <a href="http://www.interneer.com>Interneer Intellect.

Intellect is a web-based, user-friendly system that allows the average person, with or without knowledge of computer programming, to easily build fully-functional and extremely useful business applications. Intellect automates the processes needed to deliver results with easy to understand visual guides and wizards. Since Intellect is fully configurable without coding, companies gain the flexibility to adapt to change, eliminating the need for costly software modifications in the future.

Intellect's Instant Application Framework makes it simple to quickly create dynamic forms, interactive tables, work00flow diagrams and collaboration tools such as due date notifications and sign-off requests. As a result, the typical business user is empowered to configure the system whenever necessary, even if he or she has no knowledge of computer programming. If you can get by in Excel, you can build sophisticated applications with Intellect. Intellect allows for levels of flexibility and user-control not possible with hard-coded applications, at a fraction of the cost.

If you are considering using ZoHo Creator or Coghead to build custom applications for your business I would suggest also looking into Interneer Intellect. All three systems offer their own unique strong points? but Interneer Intellect by far has the longest list of functions and capabilities. This in itself is reason enough to register at Interneer?s site and view the product demo and/or white papers.