Ajax is no silver bullet. Even Google knows it. Flash is sometimes better.

Note: this entry has moved.

I recently subscribed (with 2 lines of web.config) a couple sites with Google Analytics, which is very cool.

Now, to those who didn't believe my statement from a few days ago, that Ajax was a waste of time if you want to get advanced UIs, even Google knows it. Take a look at this cool visualization of some stats:

GoogleAnalyticsFlash.png

What you cannot see in that static screenshot, is that when you click in one of the legends in a pie chart, the corresponding pie "piece" moves away from the rest, as you can see above in Visits by Source, for google itself. The Geo Map overlay is awesome too.

Guess what's all that. Yes, Flash!!!

I hope Google continues this trend complementing the unbelievable cool Ajax stuff they are doing with things like the Google Spreadsheets:

GoogleSpreadsheets.png

6 Comments

  • I could be wrong but I believe Google Analytics is based on the Urchin webstats program, which is or was a stand alone company. That probably explains why it's done in flash as opposed to Ajax. Not that I don't agree with your overall point its just that they were working wtih an existing product instead of one built from scratch in house.

  • If I remember correctly this was an urchin product and Urchin did a lot of work in the flash area of the product before google bought it. So this may just be another simple rebranding that google tends to do.

  • No problem, as soon as I see a port from Flash to Ajax, I'll concede you that Google is not planning on using anything other than Ajax. Ah, btw, do you think they could do Google Earth with just Ajax? :p

  • Vieja, ya te dimos 1.000 motivos por los cuales flash no es mejor ni resuelve ni la mitad sin aportar el doble de problemas. Move on!

  • Chavon, what I don't seem to be able to get through, is the idea that it's not about defending Flash, but assuming that there are a *ton* of things required for advanced UIs that simply cannot be done with HTML+javascript.

    So, YOU get over it, and start studying some of the alternatives: XAML or Flash, I don't care.

    But don't complaing when/if XAML takes over the web... don't come crying "Microsoft wants to take over the web with non-standards!". Flash isn't either, but both will allow next-gen apps for sure. And you MUST use something other than HTML+javascript. (ok, they could have implemented SVG... sigh..)

  • Do a search on WPF/E and start believing.
    AJAX is SO VERY DEAD!!! (for good).

    Carlos: you're still missing the point. It's not about Flash. It's about NOT-AJAX!

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