Soq

Soq is an innovative browser based CMS created by Luke Barlow and further developed by nkd-webmedia
About the Soq System
The Soq System was designed by Luke Barlow in 2000, to provide a quick and easy way to make changes to html-based websites. Unlike conventional CMS's of the time, the idea was that Soq would be a Content Management System for pre-existing html websites, in effect a retrofitted CMS.
Soq worked through the users web browser and required nothing to be installed on their computer, this enabled it to be easily used from multiple PCs (i.e. internet cafes, etc). It could be used to edit any HTML website anywhere on the internet. The site didn't need to be hosted in any special way, and nothing had to be installed on the site's web server either. Furthermore, Soq worked with any design of HTML website, as didn't work with fixed templates. If a site has text, Soq could edit it. If it has pictures, Soq could update them. Soq imposed no limitations on the structure or layout of web pages or websites.
Initially powered using Macromedia Cold Fusion, Soq later became one of the first web applications to use javascript to deliver desktop-quality software via a web brower (then Internet Explorer 5.5). The lead javascript developer was Fotios Basagiannis.
The back-end was re-authored in Perl. Part of the backend was released as an Open Source project called SoqL and was the subject of a talk at [http://conferences.mongueurs.net/ye2003/schedule YAPC (Yet Another Perl Conference 2003)] by the project's lead-Perl developer, Chris Prather.
Between 2001 and 2003 the project was managed and funded by NKD Webmedia, a then Edinburgh-based internet development firm. NKD were able to attract a package of funding from Scottish Enterprise, the Royal Bank of Scotland and private investors, to provide funds to develop Soq.
During the NKD years, the vision for Soq evolved to enable users to join themselves into "worlds" of like-minded groups, sharing content with each other. From a technical perspective, Soq was designed to provide support for a wide range of file types, including video and other rich media.
A working demo of a browser toolbar was developed, along with functionality to enable content stored on someone's local file system (i.e. their desktop) to be dragged-and-dropped onto their website (provided that ftp details had previously been set-up).
Functionality was even slated to allow the creation of databases via the Soq interface, although this didn't not get far beyond the planning stage.
In mid-2003, the development capital dried up without a working commercial release and the project was abandoned by the team at NKD. Currently the only reminder of Soq is a later stripped-down demo version authored in .NET that is currently hosted at Soq Central.
Although it never reached commercial release, Soq was certainly an early example of the sort of internet applications that typify Web 2.0. The vision was for un-restrained collaboration, the repurposing of content, and third-party add-ons. Soq may have attempted to do too much too quickly, with sub-sets of the Soq feature set (like text editing and easy photo and video uploading) becoming significant web industries in their own right.
Additionally, the commercial model that was eventually applied to Soq, involved charging web design companies a fee for a "Soq World" which they could then resell to their clients. This only attracted interest from a handful of firms, and was one of the main reasons why development ceased in 2003.
During the period 2001 - 2003, advertising as a funding model was severely discredited, and as such the team behind Soq never had the confidence to release a version to individuals for free before commercialising the traffic, which later provided to be the optimum business model for Web 2.0.
Internet veteran Ian Ritchie, formerly of Office Workstations Limited, was one of the first people to see Soq during its development.

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