A recurring argument on software development boards, often with a backstory involving a developer teaming up with an idea-man and then having second-thoughts about the equity split, debates the relative value of ideas versus implementation. Who is worth more to the team: The one who did the hard work of coding, or the guy who thought up the web app in the first place?

The predominate opinion is usually that the implementation is extraordinarily valuable, while the idea is close to worthless. "Ideas are cheap" the posters often claim. "There are an endless number of good ideas out there."

"Anyone can think up good ideas. Few can put them into practice."

So I ask you: What value are ideas? If you were a developer that teamed up with someone who had a clever idea for a web app, even perhaps just a couple of interesting twists that give it a potential competitive edge, how much value would you give their contribution?

This is a very contentious issue in the software development community, and it's one I plan on addressing in an upcoming entry.

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For evaluation purposes -- to see what it brings to rich web apps -- I've added Internet Explorer 7 beta 2 to the daily browser mix, using it aside Firefox 1.5.0.1 and Opera 8.5 in my daily activities.

It's a competent browser, hosting a number of great improvements, however thus far I've seen nothing about it that makes me believe it will replace my feature-rich Firefox browser, nor does it look like it'll replace the lightweight, ultra-fast Opera browser. It really seems to be more about playing catch-up, bringing some of the functionality that the rest of us have been enjoying to the IE hold-outs.

Will definitely keep an eye on it.