I’ve always been a fan of Adobe Air and all of the wonderful desktop applications that have been developed on that platform. Some of my favorites have been the twitter clients Twhirl and Tweetdeck. However, I’ve slowly become disillusioned by the whole concept of web services relying so much on desktop apps. It’s become more annoying as increasing scores of services have begun to release desktop apps for what really needs to remain where it is…in the cloud!
Letting the (Adobe) Air out of the Bubble
All this has lead me to make a decision to stop this desktop app for web services madness! With the exception of Tweetdeck, I will no longer download, install or update anymore Adobe Air applications! There, I said it. I will also do my best to replace TweetDeck once someone comes up with a better mousetrap for Twitter in the browser. The best one I’ve seen is Tweetree which Twitter should buy already!
Look, the future of the web needs to remain in the cloud, not on a local desktop. Some will argue “but what about working offline?” I reply “What about it?” How often are we really offline and not connected? On a plane? When you’re at your Aunt Tilley’s house in the middle of nowhere? Most of us have aircards and ways to connect and quite frankly the world will not end if you can’t work offline for whatever reason. Besides that, I’m all for things like Google Gears and technology that allows offline mode and online synchronization.
The thing that irks me is the whole reliance on downloading installing and updating multiple products on multiple systems. For example, let’s say you have three systems you use on a regular basis. A Home desktop, a work desktop and a laptop. Well, if you use several services that rely on an Adobe Air desktop application then that means you not only have to install Adobe air three times but also each of those apps and keep them all updated. To make matters worse, if you do any kind of tweaking or customization such as creating groups on TweetDeck, then you need to do it all over again on each computer! Yes, there are some convoluted ways you can backup the config files and copy them from here to there but that’s a pain in the neck. Desktop apps would be better served if they allowed us to store our settings in the cloud to sync with every installation we have but they don’t do that. Web apps do!
Google does a great job explaining why web apps make more sense than desktop apps and even mobile apps such as for the iPhone. I agree with their philosophy here and enjoy using their Google Tasks service not only in my browser but also on my iPhone because I never have to download or install or update anything. Best of all, it looks and feels and tastes like a standalone iPhone app! Brilliant. I wish others would follow their lead and just say no to Adobe Air. It’s time to suffocate this annoying trend once and for all.
On that note, here’s a video for NO AIR from Jordan Sparks
I do so agree with your cloud comments. I've never been a fan of eye-candy bloatware such as MS Office, and had moved away from Outlook to Thunderbird some while back, but about 18 months ago now, I took the plunge, and moved all my personal and business email to GMail. No, I don't use Google Apps, just Gmail as a cloud-based POP3 client.Biggest bonus? No need to sync. I have all my mail, contacts, and calender on my Blackberry, and my desktop, along with Google Voice. Reqall allows me to call in notes and reminders on my cellphone, which again, is available on any internet-connected computer once I log in.I remember the pain it was to be in one location, and the email with the information I wanted would always seem to be at another computer, and that I certainly do not miss. Cloud based computing is much tidier and more efficient.Security issues? Of course, one has to be mindful of security, but nothing is 100%. Even a computer that's not connected to anything can be stolen, and these days, it's simply not possible to commit everything to memory. It has to be stored somewhere, in some form, and then it becomes a security issue of some kind.All in all, in my opinion, cloud based computing is a huge step forward. I'm sure that we'll ultimately go full circle, and our own computers will simply end up like dumb terminals hanging off a server, which in this case is the Internet itself.
I do so agree with your cloud comments. I've never been a fan of eye-candy bloatware such as MS Office, and had moved away from Outlook to Thunderbird some while back, but about 18 months ago now, I took the plunge, and moved all my personal and business email to GMail. No, I don't use Google Apps, just Gmail as a cloud-based POP3 client.
Biggest bonus? No need to sync. I have all my mail, contacts, and calender on my Blackberry, and my desktop, along with Google Voice. Reqall allows me to call in notes and reminders on my cellphone, which again, is available on any internet-connected computer once I log in.
I remember the pain it was to be in one location, and the email with the information I wanted would always seem to be at another computer, and that I certainly do not miss.
Cloud based computing is much tidier and more efficient.
Security issues? Of course, one has to be mindful of security, but nothing is 100%. Even a computer that's not connected to anything can be stolen, and these days, it's simply not possible to commit everything to memory. It has to be stored somewhere, in some form, and then it becomes a security issue of some kind.
All in all, in my opinion, cloud based computing is a huge step forward. I'm sure that we'll ultimately go full circle, and our own computers will simply end up like dumb terminals hanging off a server, which in this case is the Internet itself.
I'm glad to hear this from someone else and needless to say I'm in complete agreement. I love Tweetdeck but I've customized my groups to the point that it is now only really useful on 1 of my 3 computers. I long ago adopted Google Reader because of this exact reason. Desktop apps have their place but if the app is built to interface primarily with the web doesn't it make sense to have it as a web app?I've tried PeopleBrowsr thinking it might replace tweetdeck but so far tweetdeck is still my choice. I'd be satisfied if tweetdeck provide a configuration import/export or at least allowed me to export groups so I can maintain a similar experience across multiple computers.Good post.Tsudohnimhwebsite: http://Knowthenetwork.comfollow me on Twitter http://twitter.com/tsudointeract with me on Friendfeed http://friendfeed.com/tsudohnimh
I'm glad to hear this from someone else and needless to say I'm in complete agreement. I love Tweetdeck but I've customized my groups to the point that it is now only really useful on 1 of my 3 computers. I long ago adopted Google Reader because of this exact reason. Desktop apps have their place but if the app is built to interface primarily with the web doesn't it make sense to have it as a web app?
I've tried PeopleBrowsr thinking it might replace tweetdeck but so far tweetdeck is still my choice. I'd be satisfied if tweetdeck provide a configuration import/export or at least allowed me to export groups so I can maintain a similar experience across multiple computers.
Good post.
Tsudohnimh
website: http://Knowthenetwork.com
follow me on Twitter http://twitter.com/tsudo
interact with me on Friendfeed http://friendfeed.com/tsudohnimh
Paisano, Good post. You make some interesting arguments for the browser and whilst it's a great place for certain scenarios there is some software that is better on the client where you can take advantage of the horsepower of your machine more effectively. You could take, photo, video, design editing as being examples of that. The trick is to leverage both cloud and client so that they mitigate each other's weaknesses. Client mitigates the browser's slow speed and the cloud mitigates the client's lack of collaboration and sharing capabalities. Amongst others.Your complaint about installing multiple pieces of software across multiple machines and then having to customize your settings on all of them is common. This is a problem we are looking to address with Live Mesh and Live Services. The number of devices you own will continue to rise and so managing data and applications across your “mesh” of devices won't be getting any easier. With Mesh you'll be able to to keep all your devices in sync along with applications and data that follow you everywhere. Whether you are online/offline on your mac/pc/cell/internet cafe you can be productive *and* with rich client experiences that leverage cloud services that you don't have to install everytime.Does that sound like it might solve a couple of your problems? I hope so :)Keep the discussion goingJames
Paisano,
Good post. You make some interesting arguments for the browser and whilst it's a great place for certain scenarios there is some software that is better on the client where you can take advantage of the horsepower of your machine more effectively. You could take, photo, video, design editing as being examples of that.
The trick is to leverage both cloud and client so that they mitigate each other's weaknesses. Client mitigates the browser's slow speed and the cloud mitigates the client's lack of collaboration and sharing capabalities. Amongst others.
Your complaint about installing multiple pieces of software across multiple machines and then having to customize your settings on all of them is common. This is a problem we are looking to address with Live Mesh and Live Services. The number of devices you own will continue to rise and so managing data and applications across your “mesh” of devices won't be getting any easier. With Mesh you'll be able to to keep all your devices in sync along with applications and data that follow you everywhere. Whether you are online/offline on your mac/pc/cell/internet cafe you can be productive *and* with rich client experiences that leverage cloud services that you don't have to install everytime.
Does that sound like it might solve a couple of your problems? I hope so 🙂
Keep the discussion going
James
Hmm. I sense iPhone apps violate your sensibilities only in theory, not in practice. How do you feel about other software+service combos such as iPod / iTunes Store, the Pandora app, and Amazon Kindle?
Hmm. I sense iPhone apps violate your sensibilities only in theory, not in practice. How do you feel about other software+service combos such as iPod / iTunes Store, the Pandora app, and Amazon Kindle?
There are some really good browser based apps, but in some cases the client is just easier. Tweetdeck is a good example. Now syncing is going away as a problem on all apps. One thing that would be best though is if they auto synced to the cloud upon startup and periodically thereafter.For me, I'm not a fan of keeping open a dozen windows to have to deal with each service. If all of them could fit on one apps page I'd be more inclined.Good article though and some great points. Maybe the best of both will emerge.
There are some really good browser based apps, but in some cases the client is just easier. Tweetdeck is a good example. Now syncing is going away as a problem on all apps. One thing that would be best though is if they auto synced to the cloud upon startup and periodically thereafter.
For me, I'm not a fan of keeping open a dozen windows to have to deal with each service. If all of them could fit on one apps page I'd be more inclined.
Good article though and some great points. Maybe the best of both will emerge.
There are some really good browser based apps, but in some cases the client is just easier. Tweetdeck is a good example. Now syncing is going away as a problem on all apps. One thing that would be best though is if they auto synced to the cloud upon startup and periodically thereafter.For me, I'm not a fan of keeping open a dozen windows to have to deal with each service. If all of them could fit on one apps page I'd be more inclined.Good article though and some great points. Maybe the best of both will emerge.
There are some really good browser based apps, but in some cases the client is just easier. Tweetdeck is a good example. Now syncing is going away as a problem on all apps. One thing that would be best though is if they auto synced to the cloud upon startup and periodically thereafter.
For me, I'm not a fan of keeping open a dozen windows to have to deal with each service. If all of them could fit on one apps page I'd be more inclined.
Good article though and some great points. Maybe the best of both will emerge.