A Lesson For Future Developers

Some of the latest and greatest technologies are extraordinarily simple ideas put into action by some extraordinary developers. With the nearing onslaught of web 2.0-labeled killer apps, it is important to take the time to note and appreciate professional web development, because I think it's becoming a rarity.

The amount of technological advancement coming from the minds of Google employees is staggering. Some of the companies sharing that pedestal are del.icio.us, digg.com, and flickr. But without some very creative development and near perfect user satisfaction, these services would be in the same sinking boat as Hotmail.

Joining the boat is one recently launched service that appears to have already shot itself in the foot by way of a poorly timed press release, Reuters article, and some of the worst programming in the history of the internet.

MOG.com touts itself as a blog space, where music lovers can spread the word on their favorite artists, and find people with similar musical interests. It's not a bad idea, but it is likely the worst executed idea I have ever seen.

The most noticeable flaw on the website is their forum, which is inaccessible due to a rather pitiful administrative mistake. While the forum is a relatively small part of the MOG.com experience, it is far from the only nail in the coffin.

If you decide to register an account, I recommend taking some aspirin prior, because headaches are guaranteed. The form is short and simple, but the programming on the server side is ugly. After hitting the submit button, if the script finds any errors with the form it will take you back to the same page and inform you of the problem, which is standard procedure for form submission. However, due to a bug that registers the e-mail address regardless of errors, you will not be able to use the same one the next time you hit the submit button.

A service that requires registration with a form that makes it impossible to register. That's a new one for me.

Because I was unable to make an account, I am unsure whether you can search for other users based on music-related criteria, though they have included the ability for unregistered users to search by unrelated criteria. The results include a very small picture, a city/state location, and proof of a profoundly small amount of registered users. Include the slowest database server I've ever experienced into the equation, and you have got a pretty weak service.

Programming 101:
Make sure the basic functionality of your website works before your company starts submitting press releases!