No need to go beyond the browser
Rich Internet Applications bring a new dimension of richness to web applications. While there are some who are skeptical about RIA value for end users there are others who believe that it is the Future Direction of Applications.
While most people agree that browser is a universal client and in a comparison of Ajax vs RIA - Ajax still rules, there is one prevailing thought that to do anything on the desktop you need to go Beyond the Browser.
This is not true.
In fact by using browser as the client for RIA as Dekoh does, it is possible to provide a seamless user experience for web and desktop applications. Take a look at this screen shot from Dekoh Photos it is showing the local file-system in a AJAX UI.
Such applications also have the other advantage of gracefully degrading when internet connection is not available. An example of this is Dekoh Calendar. If the user is connected to the internet Dekoh Calendar synchronizes events with Google calendar in both directions. If the user is not connected, the calendar continues to work well locally, just that the sync happens the next time user connects to the internet. This kind of seamless user experience for offline and online operation for an application is possible only when the user interface is in the browser.
Dekoh, Desktop, Rich Internet Application, User Experience
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Comments
Alex,
This post is not about “Desktop yes. Desktop no”. BTW, you also seem to think that browser means it is always the web. This is what I was clarifying by Dekoh photos and calendar examples. Both are browser based but works even when you are on a Airplane. They run on the desktop.
Vijay
[...] Pullur of Dekoh in his post, No need to go beyond the browser, says his company has a set of applications available in beta right now that meet these needs. [...]
Oh my god. I’m so tired of this Desktop yes. Desktop No. All we can do now is the Browser, right?
Please stop this: Nobody can know every possible use case of software. Sometimes the Browser is better, sometimes the Desktop and sometimes it’s a mobile device.
Take this:
if you are using an app about 6 hours a day, does it then really matter if you do an install that takes you 1 minute?
Do you Skype within the Browser?
Do you iTunes within the Browser?
Do you use the browser to make calls while you are on the road?
It’s not about the Browser. It’s about the Web!