Using data tables to publish websites and apps is an interesting concept and having an in-house tool to produce most commonly requested ones makes total sense. Look at their templates: Inventory management, Team Tracking, Surveys, Reporting...etc. It makes sense.
One hard problem here though, by the looks of it, the tool is a database designed by engineers in response to a lengthy requirements document. It has no regard for user experience, and is one of those things you can use, only if you go through a 3 week training course.
This, imo, is where AWS could borrow from startup playbook, and instead of launching a spaceship, start instead with a paper airplane. Imagine if all you could do was to publish an inventory-management tool, that in one-click integrated with Amazon Pay and let the customers buy your products on a website?
Maybe Amazon is waiting for someone else to build this on top of their tools, and then make it available, but that poses a question why. Why would someone build on top of Honeycode, only to have Amazon eventually make it their own?
Interesting concept, but it's got a long ways to go before anyone needs to be scared of what Amazon can do with this thing.
p.s. One thing I can't figure out is if Honeycode can function as an API. If I am already using AWS for my other infra, keeping my data inside their "Excel" and then auto process and export it to somewhere using drag-and-drop automation, that makes perfect sense.
In fact, the whole "no code" Dreamweaver analogy isn't all that fitting. If they just said "Excel spreadsheet on steroids that integrates with other AWS product," would make more sense, to me at least.
One hard problem here though, by the looks of it, the tool is a database designed by engineers in response to a lengthy requirements document. It has no regard for user experience, and is one of those things you can use, only if you go through a 3 week training course.
This, imo, is where AWS could borrow from startup playbook, and instead of launching a spaceship, start instead with a paper airplane. Imagine if all you could do was to publish an inventory-management tool, that in one-click integrated with Amazon Pay and let the customers buy your products on a website?
Maybe Amazon is waiting for someone else to build this on top of their tools, and then make it available, but that poses a question why. Why would someone build on top of Honeycode, only to have Amazon eventually make it their own?
Interesting concept, but it's got a long ways to go before anyone needs to be scared of what Amazon can do with this thing.