tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11017428.post113103317614297060..comments2023-11-02T10:12:33.801-04:00Comments on Soul Kerfuffle: Windows LiveYeagerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02094244295900113594noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11017428.post-1131546010283682072005-11-09T09:20:00.000-05:002005-11-09T09:20:00.000-05:00PS... you said:"I'll admit that, like a lot of oth...PS... you said:<BR/><BR/>"I'll admit that, like a lot of other developers, I tend to look at a web based solution to a problem far more often than I probably ought to these days."<BR/><BR/>With delivery-on-demand solutions available with Java and .NET/Mono (and the numerous proprietary systems like what WOW and UO use for on-demand patches), the need for web-only applications is a choice of lifestyle far more than necessity. <BR/><BR/>Rich client applications can update on the fly, add content, features and whole programs on the fly and can redraw their interface on demand. There's no reason not to indulge the user with the consistently-better user experience available with the rich client. Web solutions, and their by-design need to fit the "least common denominator" model simply can't answer all the needs. <BR/><BR/>A reliable, solid and *gasp* open-architected model for rich client apps to be universally online-able (a la web-services) is a better solution, IMHO.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11017428.post-1131545663398324192005-11-09T09:14:00.000-05:002005-11-09T09:14:00.000-05:00Don't get me wrong. I *love* the idea of being abl...Don't get me wrong. I *love* the idea of being able to get at *my* data from anywhere. For instance, I was on a motorcycle tour of the Great Smokey Mountains a few months ago. One evening, sitting in a motel room I needed (ok, wanted, really) some info that was on my computer at home - ironically, my laptop was with me but this particular file was only on my desktop. It would have been great to log in to an online data repository & app farm, get what I needed, maybe do something or another, and off I go.<BR/><BR/>However - and maybe it's because I'm a tech and I know a little too much about so-called "security" - I am happy knowing that *my* stuff is on *my* computer locked in *my* home behind a reasonable firewall and with decent on-computer protection (passwords, unix-based OS, etc).<BR/><BR/>And rich-client apps are still *functionally* necessary for speed, for immersive applications like photo-editing and games, and for development. Can you imaging trying to develop software remotely, debug it remotely, validate settings and configurations remotely - all the while fighting an already clogged internet delivery infrastructure?<BR/><BR/>Until the whole world and the SIX major internet hops are all fibre-to-fibre at *EVERY* endpoint, and until reliable throughput is available at *EVERY* endpoint, it's a moot discussion.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11017428.post-1131116589217560052005-11-04T10:03:00.000-05:002005-11-04T10:03:00.000-05:00A good point... and the idea of an "internet appli...A good point... and the idea of an "internet appliance" is not too far off either.<BR/><BR/>However, I'm having a hard time believing that there aren't some things that users are going to want to keep on a hard drive that's right in front of them. If you recall, Sun Microsystems attempted to make popular the distributed network computing model, where everything was stored/shared by the network. And it worked. Well. And PCs still dominated.<BR/><BR/>I'm not arguing that there is anything more secure or private about keeping stuff on your OWN hard drive, but there is something about the "Personal" computer that appeals to the capitalist in us. Every time anyone has tried to bring network computing into the home, it hasn't worked. Does that mean it won't work this time? No. But history says it won't.Yeagerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02094244295900113594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11017428.post-1131095268791123852005-11-04T04:07:00.000-05:002005-11-04T04:07:00.000-05:00Why would anyone want to be at the mercy of their ...Why would anyone want to be at the mercy of their electricity connection when you want to do things like write a term paper? People willing take this "risk" because 1) electricity has become available everywhere and is extremely reliable and 2) maintaining a home electricity generation station is a huge cost relative to the very minor gain in reliability/independence. Computing is moving in the same direction. As the internet becomes even more ubiquitous than electricity and increasingly reliable, is the "cost" of maintaining home computing stations (applications + processing power) justifiable? I would say that the answer will soon be "no". In fact when I see the "average" home computing station (my parents' PC for example) with out of date virus definitions, dozens of spyware programs running, 200 shortcuts on the desktop, fragmented file systems, un-patched software, out of date software, fallible hardware, etc., I think Windows Live would be a huge improvement even today. If the future is "home computers" which run only a browser (prediction: as online apps mature, Google will soon get into the consumer hardware game with an idiot-proof "internet appliance"), a lot of the headaches that go along with home computing today disappear. I see Windows Live as a necessary step to take if Microsoft wants to stay in the game.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11017428.post-1131079282596037752005-11-03T23:41:00.000-05:002005-11-03T23:41:00.000-05:00I wouldn't want to write my term papers on an onli...I wouldn't want to write my term papers on an online clinet. What if I lost my internet connection? Ack!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com