The Disappearing Desktop - It's Real This Time

[Geoff Canyon]

On Nov 16, 2005, at 3:28 PM, Dan Shafer wrote:

> Not sure I see a connection here, Geoff. If my data's on a server,  
> how I access it seems irrelevant to the question of its availability.

I have all of my phone contacts stored on my computer. Some of them  
aren't on my cell phone (admittedly not many). If my phone contacts  
were stored on a server and I were someplace where I don't have  
access to the internet, I have no access to those contacts to look  
someone up and call them.

That's just one example. I have many things on my computer that I  
want access to whether or not I have network access.

Further, even after universal wireless access, speed can be an issue  
if large files are involved. As Richard pointed out, downloading  
150mb worth of Photoshop each time I want to use it isn't a good idea  
even at 802.11g speeds. Neither is downloading 30 megabytes of  
Revolution stackfiles each time I want to edit them.

For many applications, local storage is completely necessary until  
wireless access is 1. Everywhere 2. Really Fast.

For other applications, local storage is unnecessary.