Is Node.js the next Big Next Thing?

Andrew Chen explains that Node.js might be poised to be the next Big Next Thing for web apps. He asserts that "Rails, PHP and Visual Basic were all successful because they made it easy to build form-based applications," and if the Node.js community can make something as easy as How to build a blog engine in 15 min with Rails, then it may pick up real traction.

Or it may become just a footnote in web history - anyone remember ColdFusion?

1949 torus for fusion experiments, Clarendon Laboratory, Oxford courtesy Robin Stevens