There is a weird tension between desktop applications and web applications.
Between locally stored documents and invisible data squirreled away in a off-site service.
Many of the applications that I love to use, like del.icio.us, Wiki, or Flickr are fantastical available from any computer, but at the same time, Sometimes I want a private local copy of them, stored in a data format that I can version, combined, and migrate as I see fit.
Google Desktop is a great example of capturing this tension. I can search over my computer's private corporate data. I want to use a local private secure del.icio.us to bookmark all of my internal URLs at work. I want a Flickr sitting on my desktop that manages the thousands of photos before publishing out the top 100 to the world.
Google Desktop points in the right direction by providing a layered approach, making both Web and Desktop search results available. Local web services should be visually distinct, but seamlessly offer remote web services at the same time. The web is great for sharing public information. The net is great for synchronizing computers. Computers are the private islands we live in rich with artifacts and influences that are part of the process, but aren't part of the public product.
Perhaps a missing component of the Web OS, is a standardized locally installed web application server. This component could host war (Java), php, ruby, lisp, etc applications. Keeping services requirements low is possible, because these services will be locally. Programmers should consider using existing file formats and embedded databases as much as possible. MySQL and Oracle would be overkill for most local web apps.
Perhaps this is infrastructure is too much, as many applications today simply embed a simple web server in their desktop products already. It may well become a tendency of programming platforms to provide a web application server component as part of the base language, so that a user who as installed the runtime, will be able to host your local web app. Currently these libraries are usually add-on's such as Jetty or Webrick.
It is great that Google has not only provided the best general search on the WWW, but that they also have now offered us a local application. For sites ( like Google ) who are embracing web service APIs we don't have to wait for the WWW site to build the local web app. With plug-ins to existing fat clients, we can get the local get a taste of the local + remote web app. I have just started using iPhoto + FlickrExport to upload to Flickr and it is fantastic, but this is only the file export piece of the puzzle. I want to run something like Oraganizr on my thousands of photos. I want changes written out to my drive.
Between locally stored documents and invisible data squirreled away in a off-site service.
Many of the applications that I love to use, like del.icio.us, Wiki, or Flickr are fantastical available from any computer, but at the same time, Sometimes I want a private local copy of them, stored in a data format that I can version, combined, and migrate as I see fit.
Google Desktop is a great example of capturing this tension. I can search over my computer's private corporate data. I want to use a local private secure del.icio.us to bookmark all of my internal URLs at work. I want a Flickr sitting on my desktop that manages the thousands of photos before publishing out the top 100 to the world.
Google Desktop points in the right direction by providing a layered approach, making both Web and Desktop search results available. Local web services should be visually distinct, but seamlessly offer remote web services at the same time. The web is great for sharing public information. The net is great for synchronizing computers. Computers are the private islands we live in rich with artifacts and influences that are part of the process, but aren't part of the public product.
Perhaps a missing component of the Web OS, is a standardized locally installed web application server. This component could host war (Java), php, ruby, lisp, etc applications. Keeping services requirements low is possible, because these services will be locally. Programmers should consider using existing file formats and embedded databases as much as possible. MySQL and Oracle would be overkill for most local web apps.
Perhaps this is infrastructure is too much, as many applications today simply embed a simple web server in their desktop products already. It may well become a tendency of programming platforms to provide a web application server component as part of the base language, so that a user who as installed the runtime, will be able to host your local web app. Currently these libraries are usually add-on's such as Jetty or Webrick.
It is great that Google has not only provided the best general search on the WWW, but that they also have now offered us a local application. For sites ( like Google ) who are embracing web service APIs we don't have to wait for the WWW site to build the local web app. With plug-ins to existing fat clients, we can get the local get a taste of the local + remote web app. I have just started using iPhoto + FlickrExport to upload to Flickr and it is fantastic, but this is only the file export piece of the puzzle. I want to run something like Oraganizr on my thousands of photos. I want changes written out to my drive.
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