Ajax Blog

Michael Mahemoff has a nice little post on the rebranding of JavaScript. It kicked off when he was listening to Steve Yegge on rebranding:

He talks about how languages are branded, e.g. “Java” is enterprise. One of his main points is that brands are “const identifiers”, i.e. it takes an entire generation to change brand perception, so it’s often more effective to simply re-brand. e.g. GTE had a poor brand, so they tried a self-deprecating ad campaign, which backfired, and subsequently re-branded to Verizon.

He then mentions Javascript has a branding problem, because it represents “browser” and “toy language” and “damnit, I gotta learn Javascript” and it’s the language no-one wants to use. He also notes the name itself isn’t great either, nor the rhino imagery. (I’m not sure why Steve assumed many programmers would associate Javascript with rhinos; the Rhino product and O’Reilly cover weren’t really promiment enough to do that; rhino ain’t camel!).

But, wait a minute, didn’t we already have a rebranding?

Javascript has already been rebranded. In fact, I’d go so far as to say “Ajax” was one of the most successful rebrandings in software history.

Although technically Ajax != JavaScript, and the rebranding is really DHTML, he is right. Ajax rebranded the Web, and we have all benefited from it.

I also think that this is just the beginning, and we haven’t seen the best of the Ajax revolution yet.

Source: Ajaxian
Original Article: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/ajaxian/~3/329512658/javascript-rebranded-check

Michael Mahemoff has a nice little post on the rebranding of JavaScript. It kicked off when he was listening to Steve Yegge on rebranding:

He talks about how languages are branded, e.g. “Java” is enterprise. One of his main points is that brands are “const identifiers”, i.e. it takes an entire generation to change brand perception, so it’s often more effective to simply re-brand. e.g. GTE had a poor brand, so they tried a self-deprecating ad campaign, which backfired, and subsequently re-branded to Verizon.

He then mentions Javascript has a branding problem, because it represents “browser” and “toy language” and “damnit, I gotta learn Javascript” and it’s the language no-one wants to use. He also notes the name itself isn’t great either, nor the rhino imagery. (I’m not sure why Steve assumed many programmers would associate Javascript with rhinos; the Rhino product and O’Reilly cover weren’t really promiment enough to do that; rhino ain’t camel!).

But, wait a minute, didn't we already have a rebranding?

Javascript has already been rebranded. In fact, I’d go so far as to say “Ajax” was one of the most successful rebrandings in software history.

Although technically Ajax != JavaScript, and the rebranding is really DHTML, he is right. Ajax rebranded the Web, and we have all benefited from it.

I also think that this is just the beginning, and we haven't seen the best of the Ajax revolution yet.

Source: Ajaxian » Front Page
Original Article: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/ajaxian/~3/329512658/javascript-rebranded-check