The Disappearing Desktop - It's Real This Time

[Dan Shafer]

Geoff...

On Nov 16, 2005, at 4:16 PM, Geoff Canyon wrote:

> 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.

And AJAX never envisions downloading the application. The app runs on  
the server, the UI runs in the thin client (aka browser) and the data  
is stored on the server and transferred as necessary.

Photoshop may be one of the last apps to go this route.

Or maybe someone will find a way to re-factor what Photoshop does in  
such a way that it is even easier than it seems. (I don't know; I'm  
not a Photoshop user.)

> Neither is downloading 30 megabytes of Revolution stackfiles each  
> time I want to edit them.
>
Again, the notion is not necessarily that these large chunks of  
"stuff" are downloaded. The idea is to create a thin client that  
accesses the information in a clean, elegant, smooth way for you  
while letting everything "big" reside on the server.

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

As long as we think of apps in traditional terms, yes.

> 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.

I don't disagree that in the absence of Internet ubiquity there are  
such needs. I simply argue that Internet ubiquity is not that far off  
and that we'd do well to be prepared for its arrival.




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Dan Shafer
Technology Visionary - Technology Assessment - Documentation
"Looking at technology from every angle"
http://www.eclecticity.com