If people were to limit this by saying they would only work with one or the other then this could have a serious impact on the potential that programs have. I hope that programmers and designers continue to integrate web and desktop technology as one, not separate or rival entities.

Gerv

Not at all. Google Desktop, for example, provides a search UI by running a local webserver. And you can load files from disk. And HTML Offline Storage means you can run entire apps stored in the browser without being connected to the web at all.

Gerv

On planes. On other forms of transport where 3G coverage is spotty – such as during my recent narrowboating trip. When my mobile is out of coverage. When I’m staying at a hotel with no 3G coverage and no wifi.

And, of course, when my internet connection is down.

Gerv

I can’t really see desktop applications and web applications co-existing as they do now for much longer though, I feel there will eventually be some convergence which works to the benefits of both approaches.

HTML5 is a step in this direction, giving web applications more access to low-level hardware and providing native audio/video, vector graphics and offline storage capabilities. Google Chrome OS is also a step in this direction.

The iPad has interesting examples of graphical user interfaces that don’t exist within a desktop environment and it will be interesting to see how this style of interface design transposes to the web environment with the emerging standards for native graphics capability.

Underlying this issue is the other question of cloud computing (discussed in another shot) of where computing takes place and where users’ data is stored.

For me then, the answer is that I must retain the “legacy” desktop. Apps in the cloud are just not a viable replacement. Besides this I still like the fact that the apps I use on my desktop are free (beer) and free (freedom). The web sites I use most often on the web are not.

I think the App of Jaq idea is great too and will love to see it up and running, but the platform-specific nature of it leaves a little to be desired.

Great shot guys.

Web – Take it wherever you go, but requires the user to actively go onto your site

Desktop – Powerful, more common to users, easier methods for giving user notifications

Mobile Device – Gives user opportunity to perform tasks where previously not really available, plus extra sensor data (GPS, Camera, Accelerometer)

For me each service offers something different, and if you get a user on each platform with your service you can do some pretty kool things, other them an experience, that for me, is pretty few and far between and something I think apple probably has best with things like mobile me and Ubuntu One has the possibility to be a similar sort of service.

It’s early days yet, but for anyone who hasn’t seen it yet, I highly recommend checking out the presentation at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IdMWxtMMB8

(Yes, he talks about KDE in there, but OwnCloud is cross platform. The idea is that any device can use it regardless of OS or desktop environment)

HTML 5 and Adobe Air achieve platform independence by sacrificing integration. Apple sacrifices platform independence but gains integration. Microsoft Silverlight sacrifices platform independence and integration and gains – well nothing from the looks of it.

The degree of integration by the different approaches is just a design decision. Why do you think that Adobe is so keen on getting Flash onto the iPhone, and Apple is so keen on keeping it (and Silverlight and Mono) out? It’s because they can do the same thing as Objective-C (while sacrificing integration) for those types of applications.

I think the well integrated app approach is the correct one for the sort of application you are talking about. Python and Gnome is the platform. The repository is the “app store”. As I said, all you’re really lacking at this point is a name for it.

I’m looking forward to App of Jaq as the one-stop shop for all my Jaq needs. It’ll be nice being able to listen to the Shot and comment on it without leaving evidence on my work machine’s web browser.

I think it is going to be pretty cool. The idea with App Of Jaq is to really build the conversation experience into the desktop. It will be simple at first, primarily showing notification bubbles when new comments arrive and automatically downloading new shots and being to play them, but we hope to build a community of people who are keen to contribute to App Of Jaq to make it more interactive and interesting.

If you do sway towards the web app end of the scale, make sure you don’t let your ISP cut your connection when your offspring or visitors download too many dodgy movies

What you seem to be offering is the Apple approach (native apps), but using Python instead of Objective-C. I think all you’re lacking is a trendy name for it.

Rock!

It feels like a hassle to have browser tabs open for identica, twitter, facebook, gmail, work email, and other web services that I have to manually poll when I can just have programs running in the background checking them for me and alerting me when something interesting happens.

I’m looking forward to App of Jaq as the one-stop shop for all my Jaq needs. It’ll be nice being able to listen to the Shot and comment on it without leaving evidence on my work machine’s web browser.

Here in South Africa, we’re finally getting uncapped broadband, which is making the web much more affordable. I like the idea of being able to “login” on any computer, anywhere in the world, and be able to starting working from the word go.

Only problem I have with web-apps the the amount of crap people can put out, take “farmville” as a example. Yikes.

The Cloud is taking over….