No, I’m not talking about the millions of people who use the web, but rather they way that we access web content.
Thin
What do I mean by thin? I mean accessing and interacting with web information by the means of a single application: the web browser.
If you haven’t seen Google’s ChromeOS yet, it is the epitome of a thin client. It is like a stripped down Linux distribution with nothing more than a web browser.
When web 2.0 first introduced itself, we saw web sites that behaved like desktop applications. Technologies like AJAX and Flash combined with broadband internet changed the way we interacted with the web – the web browser was the primary application for accessing web content.
Web applications still had a few major flaws: the capabilities of the browser to adhere to web standards (HTML & CSS).
Who had an iPhone the first year they came out? If you did, you might remember that if you wanted to access sites like Facebook or MySpace (who uses MySpace anymore?), or if you wanted to play any games, you needed to do so with Safari.
That first year, the iPhone also teased us with some built-in applications like YouTube and Google Maps.
Web applications have been successful due to the convergence of web standards: XHTML and CSS, but are still dependent on the speed of the network and the capabilities of the browser.
Thick
Today, how often do you use the web browser on your iPhone?
There are over 100,000 custom iPhone applications that provide different ways to access web content. As a result, web clients are getting fatter and fatter.
Why apps?
Accessing web content via apps is a more pleasant user experience because we are relying more on the capabilities of the device operating system vs. the capabilities of the web browser.
How many of you access your e-mail through a mail application or read blogs with an RSS reader, or use Twitter through a desktop client?
Internet-enabled applications are not unique to mobile devices nor are they anything new.
Your web browsers isn’t as thin as it used to be
All of the primary browsers today support the use of extensions or toolbar add-ons to enhance your browsing experience. As a result, our web browsers are also getting fatter.
The Future
Our mobile devices are now loaded with applications for accessing web content: FAT, at the same time netbooks are becoming increasingly popular: THIN.
So where are we headed?
I believe that the application-based client will be the future of the web because it allows for the best user experience. The traditional web browser won’t go away, but will continue to supplement the application.
Because of the difficultly involved in maintaining software updates and new features – the success of web-enabled application will depend on the update delivery model. Applications will thrive if using push-notification models for updating like Apple’s App Store and Firefox’s Add-On manager.
What do you think? Will Google’s ChromeOS eventually have it’s own app store like the Android Market? Or will all future browsers adhere to the same web standards offering the same browsing experience?
Fat or Thin? The Future of Web Clients
No, I’m not talking about the millions of people who use the web, but rather they way that we access web content.
Thin
What do I mean by thin? I mean accessing and interacting with web information by the means of a single application: the web browser.
If you haven’t seen Google’s ChromeOS yet, it is the epitome of a thin client. It is like a stripped down Linux distribution with nothing more than a web browser.
When web 2.0 first introduced itself, we saw web sites that behaved like desktop applications. Technologies like AJAX and Flash combined with broadband internet changed the way we interacted with the web – the web browser was the primary application for accessing web content.
Web applications still had a few major flaws: the capabilities of the browser to adhere to web standards (HTML & CSS).
Who had an iPhone the first year they came out? If you did, you might remember that if you wanted to access sites like Facebook or MySpace (who uses MySpace anymore?), or if you wanted to play any games, you needed to do so with Safari.
That first year, the iPhone also teased us with some built-in applications like YouTube and Google Maps.
Web applications have been successful due to the convergence of web standards: XHTML and CSS, but are still dependent on the speed of the network and the capabilities of the browser.
Thick
Today, how often do you use the web browser on your iPhone?
There are over 100,000 custom iPhone applications that provide different ways to access web content. As a result, web clients are getting fatter and fatter.
Why apps?
Accessing web content via apps is a more pleasant user experience because we are relying more on the capabilities of the device operating system vs. the capabilities of the web browser.
How many of you access your e-mail through a mail application or read blogs with an RSS reader, or use Twitter through a desktop client?
Internet-enabled applications are not unique to mobile devices nor are they anything new.
Your web browsers isn’t as thin as it used to be
All of the primary browsers today support the use of extensions or toolbar add-ons to enhance your browsing experience. As a result, our web browsers are also getting fatter.
The Future
Our mobile devices are now loaded with applications for accessing web content: FAT, at the same time netbooks are becoming increasingly popular: THIN.
So where are we headed?
I believe that the application-based client will be the future of the web because it allows for the best user experience. The traditional web browser won’t go away, but will continue to supplement the application.
Because of the difficultly involved in maintaining software updates and new features – the success of web-enabled application will depend on the update delivery model. Applications will thrive if using push-notification models for updating like Apple’s App Store and Firefox’s Add-On manager.
What do you think? Will Google’s ChromeOS eventually have it’s own app store like the Android Market? Or will all future browsers adhere to the same web standards offering the same browsing experience?