Terry and I are almost done with the majority of our scorecard application prototype. It’s actually a bit more than a prototype as it has a fully functional database and iPhone application almost complete (although not optimized). We’re also sketching up a Flash-based website and (AIR-based) desktop application along with a “widget” version that could be used on social networks or any widget/gadget-friendly place.

This is what I love about web technology: We have a single data store and server-side application that can be accessed by any interface application in any form (as long as you know the APIs). Once you build a solid, scalable solution to store and access your data, you can go nuts with all the various portable interface options: website, desktop app, widgets, mobile, ad banner, in-store kiosk or digital display, etc. And don’t forget the mash-ups. Assuming everyone it building their tools with this in mind, any interface can tap into any data service and relate it to it’s data. In the end, it’s all about the content (the data); so create a simple and reliable solution for providing that data, and then create compelling, accessible (and simple) interfaces for the user to get to that data. Wow, it sounds so easy.

The iPhone app is what we spent the most time on. As most all of the data is dynamic, it was important to carefully plan out how the app would be built. Lot’s of AJAX fun, we used JSON to exchange data with the back-end (done in PHP/MySQL). I can’t talk too much more about it until it’s done…but I will post more soon!