From: David Gibbs
I don't understand why you're so concerned about prying useful
tools ... from peoples hands.
You're right that I want to come up with a better alternative. I think Web portals are a potentially better alternative.
Access from an airplane? I don't know the answer to that - I'll let the network people figure that out. It would have to be wireless ;-)
Developers must address the privacy issue by software design, to make privacy possible, but let service provider's and end-users come up with a privacy policy that both agree to.
Desktop storage? Well, that depends on the application. Is the data personal or shared? My focus is groupware applications and shared data, so that interested parties are served from a common database. On the other hand, I see a need for built-in export capability within applications, where users can pull data to their desktops on-demand.
I think desktop computers and applications cost too much. Borrowing a line from the Bourne movies, "look at what they make you give".
I'm still following the One-Laptop-Per-Child, where low-cost devices are deployed widely, but users connect to a wealth of applications and data over the network.
From: Aaron Bartell
Nathan, I realize that you are trying to look at this from different
angles and play a little bit of devils advocate, but now you are changing
the playing field.
Not trying to be devil's advocate - I pretty much agree with other viewpoints. But yes, I'm trying to shift the playing field from desktop applications to server applications. Web applications, specifically.
Walden brought up a good point about Outlook addressing many concerns with an integrated UI. Maybe the thing that will draw people to Web applications is "integration", and more specifically a common "UI" - where email, calendar, contacts, customer relations, project management, work requests, time-sheets, forums, mailing lists, bank accounts, stock portfolios, etc. share a common UI.
From: Mike
If you want to entice someone to use a site, push to them
the content they want.
I've been thinking about this. Web applications actually "pull" content, but users would rather "perceive" it as "push" - they need applications that require fewer hoops to go through. Walden's description of all the fluff you go through at Web sites was funny, and true; it hurt;
My initial thought about web portals was to access multiple sites from multiple <iframes>, but now I think the UI needs to be even more seamless. Pull content from multiple sites, but aggregate it with a seamless UI.
Nathan.
midrange.com
