The October episode of The Screening
Room features
Dabble DB, a web-based workgroup
database that, in the style of 37Signals, focuses on simplicity and
embraces constraints. Dabble doesn't aim to do full-blown database
application development, or sophisticated query, or heavy
transactions. Its mission, instead, is to enable teams to
easily manage and flexibly evolve modest (say, 30- to 50-megabyte)
quantities of structured data.
As underscored by today's announcement of Google's JotSpot acquisition, there's a growing interest in flexible, user-friendly, web-based data management for teams. An instance of something like Dabble, parked somewhere in the cloud, can be a compelling alternative to that tired old method of data-oriented collaboration, namely emailing Excel attachments. And the trend toward commodity server virtualization means that those instances can scale the way they need to: out (i.e., more) rather than up (i.e., bigger).
Former URL: http://weblog.infoworld.com/udell/2006/10/31.html#a1555