RIAs?

So, why is everyone saying RIAs will replace websites one day?

Three words: Return On Investment.

To the user. To the client. And to us, the architects.

1. The User’s Investment: Time

Scenario: it’s taking 3 minutes for this site to download. Tick… tick. Finally, when it does, the odds are on it offering you little more than a Contact Page to interact with. Maybe a snazzy animation (ala Flash 4). The ones that go the whole hog with e-commerce seem slow and riddled with steps that take longer than the average lunch hour.

Bottom line: users are hungry for websites that are as simple and practical to use as Microsoft Word. Big value, but without the fat.

That’s what RIAs are: a giant step for the Web towards being as practical and valued as computer software. From glorified brochure to valuable application.

2. The Client’s Investment: Money

Too few websites are worth their salt. It’s quite sad, but we all saw it coming, all those nifty animated transitions just don’t stand out anymore. And any 14 yr old can do them. Which means your new bells-and-whistles site is becoming yesterday’s news a lot faster than it used to.

But, were you to build your client something -- a practical web tool their customers would happily return to day-after-day – you’d be playing in a different league altogether.

Here’s why:

1. Consumers want better user experiences
   
2. A brand that educates or assists a user in some way is far more loved than the one invading half your screen because it was an ‘expandable banner’ you didn’t mean to click on
   
3. If your site isn’t as valuable to Joe Average as a news portal – how are you EVER going to match their traffic stats? (Correct answer: never.)
   

3. Your Investment: Your Brain

Imagine this continuum: on one end you’ve got a website, the other ATM software. Which developer made more money? It’s a no-brainer. The more valuable your product, the more your worth.

Which is why RIAs are the next step forward. Compared with the standard website, RIAs are complicated monsters. Fraught with reams of code and high expectations. Like a desktop application, the RIA’s rewards are massive, and so are its risks.

Unless, you know something the others don’t.

Will your boss need convincing?

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