Amazon's SimpleDB - Dude! That's what I've been trying to tell you!!!

More than two years ago, I was working on a highly experimental project called Project ZNIX. This was for my final year project for the Bachelor's degree in Information Technology. The project was like my baby; I loved it, nurtured it it and spent a lot of time on it. Whenever I could, I would slip the topic about it into day to day conversation so much so that it got annoying. But back then, nobody understood a lick about what the project "meant". With the exception of few elite professors who read the dissertation and listen to my presentation, everyone used to give me blank stares when I explained it. I had to explain the project twice, on two different days to the examiner in charge before he finally gave up and gave me an 'A'. I even wrote a CodeProject article about it: All that got me was pointless comment from a random looney. And while I was hell bent on following up the project after graduation, with a job to worry about the commitment simply faded away. And all that remains of that ambitious project is the initial articles and the specifications I wrote.

Well, today I'm proud to say that I've discovered Amazon is trying to do something very similar to ZNIX with it's SimpleDB. Of course, I'm not trying to claim that Amazon got the idea from ZNIX. But as an innovator, I'm simply glad that similar concepts are finally going main stream. Amazon's data model will undoubtedly generate lots of commercial interest. ZNIX on the other hand was project focused more on individuals and PIM needs. Mine was a dream to make personal computing more personal. I wanted to build a system where my mom or my 6yr old niece can use a computer without having to spend months learning it before hand. Hopefully, with SimpleDB I can keep that dream alive.

PS: I recommend that you check out Ralf's SimpleDB implementation.