Coghead bites the dust

For those that haven't heard the news, Coghead is closing up shop. When the company launched in 2006, it picked up a ton of industry buzz (and VC) for allowing non-programmers to build data-driven Web applications, and build them on the Web (as opposed to build on the desktop and deploy on the Web). So much for this pure Web dev play.

Platforms like Coghead, Blist, DabbleDB, Caspio, Zoho, Google Docs, etc., allow users to build simple databases in the cloud. Operative word: simple. While cloud-based tools work for simple databases, spreadsheets, lists, docs, and online organizers, they're not appropriate for serious development work.

You'll discover all of these Web-based dev tools run out of steam fast as soon as you try to build something that solves a real business problem -- that is, something more complex than a basic list. And therein lies the rub, because most developers, businesses, and even enthusiasts have ideas that are bigger than these tools can handle.

Worse, Coghead's demise points to the No. 1 problem I see with cloud computing in general: Who owns your data, and what happens to it if the vendor goes bust? The investment in time and information that people made building apps on Coghead is gone, and their data is too, if they don't act fast to save it. (Hopefully Coghead has an export function.)

I consider Coghead et al. more proof-of-concept products than real database development platforms. This isn't to say that cloud-based dev tools don't have potential. But it will be years before developers will be able to build mission-critical apps with them, let alone line-of-business apps.

I love the concept of a database RAD IDE hosted entirely in the cloud. But the infrastructure required to bring that concept to reality is still evolving. And as is the case with Coghead, many of these companies don't have the luxury of time, especially in today's economy.

These are some of the reasons we decided to continue to invest in Alpha Five as a desktop RAD IDE that you use to build Web-based database applications. With version 10 (which is inching closer to a beta release), the resulting applications can be powered by AJAX on the front- and back-ends, making your Web applications as responsive and interactive as desktop apps.

Build on the desktop. Deploy on the Web. That's the model for Alpha Five going forward, because that's the model that allows any developer of any skill level to bring their ideas to life.