IT Professionals

Two Web Based Applications You Have Never Heard Of

Posted by on Feb 6, 2008 | 3 Comments

Really pumped that I discovered these today, hoping that they are indeed, new to each of you.

Mint – Not to be confused with Linux Mint, Mint in this instance is all about finding a real alternative to your Quicken software. Not saying it is a true replacement mind you, however based on what I have seen – it very well could develop into one.

Zoho – Providing users just about anything you could imagine from a word processor to a real on-demand CRM (customer relationship management) tool, these guys are on the ball.

(edit – looks like Bill was already ahead of me here. Odd, as I discovered it elsewhere, must be using the same newsfeed?)

What I found most interesting about each of these online applications is that even if some of them are already offered by Google or Microsoft, there is something to be said about offering alternatives elsewhere.

In addition, some of apps I found are not really available by either of the aforementioned companies as of yet. Examples include Mint, along with a number of the Zoho applications including but not limited to:

  1. Zoho Wiki
  2. Zoho Notebook
  3. Zoho CRM
  4. Zoho Creator

To be clear, I am talking about online applications, not the offline sort or the ability to collaborate over the Internet using the offline apps.

So does this mean that online applications are beginning to grow up some? Not really too sure about that. Online office suites are one thing, however feeling comfortable enough to publish your financial data to a website, regardless of certifications and security, simply makes me a little uneasy. Then again, most of us do this everyday without a second thought – it’s called online banking. Perhaps it is time to put down our past prejudices and give these apps a shot? What do you think?

  • http://www.jakeludington.com Jake Ludington

    Zoho rocks. It does so many things better than Google in the online document space. You could almost convince me to throw out Microsoft Office and use Zoho instead (except for Outlook).

    Mint is a great idea, but for some reason I can’t get my head around the idea of storing all my financial info online. I realize it’s already there, but for some reason I feel safer with that stuff on my computer.

  • Alan Monroe

    Just my opinion, but I think browser-based apps are the most wrong-headed use of a technology, ever. Shoehorning a “GUI” into a browser will always leave you with a slow, clumsy, and obviously fake-looking interface since the browser is designed to fetch and display blocks of text, not interactive components like genuine native windows, menus and buttons. Doubling the pain is the fact that it must roundtrip to the server every time you click on something.

    Think about this. We can be mildly impressed by the fact that some joker can cobble together a Doom-looking game in Javascript, but would such a game ever have been a million seller? No, because it provides a lousy user experience. It’s a pale simulacrum that mostly mocks what such a thing ought to be.

  • NewJohnny

    Zoho Creator is shaping up to be an excellent SQL and Access replacement. If you need to quickly get a small dataset online, this could be your answer.