I wrote the [old] Apple mailing list post that has been linked by several others.
http://lists.apple.com/archives/Web-dev/2004/Nov/msg00130.html
It was part of a comparison of web programming languages-- specifically, ColdFusion MX (CF/CFMX/CFML) vs more granular languages like PHP, ASP, Java, etc.
I believe it is much easier to create and maintain web sites using CF.
To support this belief, I suggested that a package (iWeb) could be created that allowed beginners to create an instant web site. While easy to learn/use, iWeb would allow users to create more robust sites if they had the need/desire.
It could be done with wizards and templates as well as open source web applications for shopping carts, drill-down database, blogging, etc.
The theory, being, that the provided apps would illustrate good program design and implementation-- so that a user could start quickly/easily and stop whenever he wanted, with a well-documented, well-designed, maintainable web site.
The site could be hosted on the user's computer, or a web hosting service-- or even tied in with a service like .Mac
At the time, I even created a simple web page explaining the concept (attached).
As you can see, the i in iWeb stands for instantaneous! (seemed like a pretty good name at the time).
A basic site could be hosted on the user's computer or something like .Mac.
To host more than a basic web site would have required ColdFusion MX and a DB Server. Likely, these sites would be hosted on a hosting service.
If .Mac were expanded to offer the necessary programming and db services at a competitive price it would be a reasonable option.
Dick Applebaum
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