29 5 / 2008
Offline/online web apps support a return to the past. [observation/tech]
Sometimes I pick issues that makes me step back and ask what is all of this for exactly? On CNET’s Webware, I checked out an article which listed some of the upcoming improvements that Google is making to it’s Gears suite. Google Gears is the API that integrates offline capabilities to web applications, allowing them to work as if they were native system applications. Slightly similar to Adobe’s AIR, along with the forthcoming BrowserPlus from Yahoo, and any other third party offline web app support, the concept of this offline usability begs the question – why do we need this?
I’m a proponent for anything that migrates technology further into the cornerstone of innovation. In fact, as we evolve our web capabilities and functionality into hybrid offline/online applications, we can continue to blur that line of division, and sprout newer, better, and more impressive web applications in the process. It’s the value of change that keeps this industry at the forefront.
So in essence, I have answered my own question – which is what is the purpose of this? It’s purpose is to allow growth in our technology and offer innovation with every new approach. Take for example MySpace, which is going to take on the task of applying Google Gears to it’s Generation X (or Y - or whatever) socially infused web juggarnaut.
But it does seem like history is repeating itself by reinventing itself once again. Let me present this historical view…
In the beginning…
Mainframes allowed workstations to connect to its hosted applications over the antiquated network hubs. This was the central computing model that gave us dumb terminals, green screens, true single sign on’s, and lots of wires…
By the way, this was before my time and I’m not that old.
Then we evolved…
Desktop application became the dominant player on all the OS heavy workstations, from Apple to IBM compatibles – which is still the primary source of application delivery – albeit, not the most valued as we evolve to more and more web based collaborative tool suites. Nonetheless, desktop apps are the bread and butter of nearly every workstation. If you doubt me on that one, then take a look at that browser you’re using. That browser looks pretty native to me.
And then we connected…
The web manifested itself into the always open, widely distributed, yet centralized computing framework that offered a connective topology for all. This is distribution at its finest. We no longer had the boundaries that beset our desktop apps. We were all connected.
And now we are returning…
The desktop is now back on the perch. Are we returning to a dedicated position of using the features that best suit a desktop application? The benefits of using localized file systems, and desktop icons - is this what we need?
There’s also some noteworthy news that Google Gears is being implemented for mobile devices. It is rather selective however. Google Gears for mobile will work with Microsoft’s Internet Explorer for Mobile 5 and 6, Opera, and of course Google’s Android. Did they forget Nokia?
If we are not returning to the desktop – then take a look at these features that the improved Google Gears is offering (courtesy of WebWare), as presented by Google’s Chris Prince.
- A Web page can create a shortcut icon on a computer’s desktop so people could launch that Web application with a double-click instead of a more laborious process.
- A notification process, which like Yahoo’s BrowserPlus feature ties into a computer’s general system notification abilities, is a major missing piece in letting Web applications seize a user’s attention the way desktop apps can. “Web apps have this problem where they can’t tell users about important things happening on their system,” Prince said.
- His file system demonstration showed a dialog box that let him select a large group of photos for upload rather than the one-file-at-a-time process that today afflicts Web site operations.
- A “blob”-processing ability could be used, for example, to divide a large file into bite-sized pieces, an approach that makes it easier to restore an upload interrupted by a bad network connection.
- He used a geolocation-processing ability to process latitude-longitude information to provide a more useful Google map showing bars near Moscone Center in San Francisco.
And the wheel keeps turning…back to where we all began.
Link: Google Gears
Link: Yahoo BrowserPlus Sneak Peak
Link: WebWare Article - Google gives glimpse of future Gears goodies
