Tell us what it would take for you to use “nothing but the web”
Thursday, September 22, 2011 | 2:40 PM
We believe in the vision of “nothing but the web” -- where business applications are delivered over the Internet and accessed in a web browser. Why? We believe the web brings substantial benefits for companies that no other IT model can -- in simplicity, cost, security, flexibility and pace of innovation.
Of course, we recognize that some companies have substantial investments in legacy technology -- desktop applications or client/server applications which they’re using every day. We’d like to understand what it will take to move these apps to the web.
Are you a business app developer?
Do you build or maintain business applications-- either internally for your company or for sale to other companies? We’d love to hear more about your apps, tools and what types of challenges you have. Please fill out this short survey and let us know whether you’d be interested in a potential HTML5 training class.
Are you a business user or IT administrator?
We’d love to hear what apps you’re still using in your business which haven’t yet moved to the web and why. Please fill out this short survey.
 | Ido Green profile | twitter | blog
Ido is a Developer Advocate for Google Chrome OS. He has been a developer and building companies for more then 15 years. He still likes to develop web applications, but only ones with amazing UX. He has a wide array of skills and experience, including Java, php, perl, JavaScript--and all aspects of agile development and scaling systems. |
25 comments:
14lehmans said...
No chance! I love my hard drive too much. Yeah I know how the web could (kinda) replace most of the functions on my computer, but having dedicated applications for it is so much better
September 23, 2011 at 3:41 AM
Finbarr Taylor said...
I want full implementation of internet suspend/resume. I want to use web apps on a device, logout of that device, and find all the apps still open in the same place when I log into any other device.
September 23, 2011 at 3:41 AM
Peter Nijessen said...
A self intuitive web application that allows you to use the hardware and facilities to hook up to the web and to analyse the connection (in the widest sense of the word) to the web.
September 23, 2011 at 3:44 AM
Foogaro said...
How could I compile my code? :P
September 23, 2011 at 6:03 AM
flors said...
We can talk when San Francisco Bay Area (leave alone more remote places in the USA) gets the reliable data connectivity coverage that Lapland has. The sad thing is that I'm not joking, just go to a remote forest of Northern Finland with a Chromebook and you will see. Then in the heart of Silicon Valley many times you don't even get coverage to make a decent phone call, leave alone connect to the Internet.
September 23, 2011 at 7:42 AM
Marcelo said...
Example of awesome Web app
Online image editor
http://pixlr.com/ (photoshop like)
Applications I think wont move to web soon: especialized, expert programs like Solidwork
(sgoogle sketch up is a simple verions of it but not as much powerfull)
September 23, 2011 at 8:27 AM
Anonymous said...
A paradigm shift in speed, reliability, and security.
24/7 access in high usage or poor coverage areas (airplanes, convention centers, etc...)
We're probably at least a decade if not more away from that.
September 23, 2011 at 9:29 AM
Aldonio said...
The problem of the current Web platform is that you are vulnerable to code stealing, no matter if your code is obfuscated and/or minified.
I would change fully to web platform the day I could use compiled code which only a really few people would be able to revert.
September 23, 2011 at 9:50 AM
Meggin Kearney said...
A small request, but hopefully useful - it would be good to have offline access to development tooling and documentation. That way you could continue to work without internet access.
September 23, 2011 at 10:00 AM
Robert Mc Dougall said...
Nothing but the Web means very big dollars. You'd rent space, maths applications, finite element applications like Comsol and Solidworks. Above all you would need a very safe space for financial stuff like bank accounts, your assets. Those things means Big Brother is watching you and I don't think every one would be willing to give up there life savings for the Net. SECURITY would be something to work for if that is to happen. Cryptography is in it's infancy and we would need something more efficient. I wouldn't like to walk around with my code book.
September 23, 2011 at 11:14 AM
Anonymous said...
I would need solid sound support in all web browsers. HTML5 is overkill for simple tasks like playing a sound clip.
September 23, 2011 at 11:18 AM
Astrophizz said...
Ability to play back video files off a local drive or disc media (like .ts files) without restrictions on video, audio, or container format. Better media playback performance and quality than browsers currently offer.
September 23, 2011 at 2:15 PM
Ken Otwell said...
What will it take? How about guaranteed security. HIPA, FERPA, PMI,... and contractual guarantees that you will be totally liable for any violations. Then we will consider it.
September 24, 2011 at 8:18 AM
Anonymous said...
haha, no chance! PCs have issues when the HDD latency is too high (10ms+). How are you going to get a ping < 10ms internationally?
Sorry, but there is a limit!
September 24, 2011 at 3:03 PM
Shay Barak said...
A friend saw my new Chromebook. He thinks it's brilliant and he wants to switch from his aging Macbook Pro.
However he's using Pear Note on the mac and apparently there is no replacement for this on ChromeOS. It's a showstopper for him.
September 25, 2011 at 5:43 AM
Shay Barak said...
A friend saw my new Chromebook. He thinks it's brilliant and he wants to switch from his aging Macbook Pro.
However he's using Pear Note on the mac and apparently there is no replacement for this on ChromeOS. It's a showstopper for him.
September 25, 2011 at 5:44 AM
Unknown said...
Even with a well-provisioned university campus we have dead spots. As it is, we use Google Apps for notes/etc, but at no fault of the application provider, suddenly we can't take notes in a meeting. In that case, we can work offline in a non-web app on the laptop and have some sense that our notes are safe on some media.
"Full web" would have to get around that: offline modes that can operate entirely in absence of the web connection is critical even for simple tasks.
Some choice of data storage would be useful as well: I'd like to use a "cloud" app, but be able to use "local cloud" storage. We work in a province that has strict legislation around the protection of privacy: we cannot store information on, for example, servers owned by US-based companies if it contains other people's (students) information. This is due to the USA Patriot Act of 2002 that allows for search and seizure of data on US-entity owned servers. I'd like to be able to use Google Apps (yes, even for a fee), but have the option to use our own provincial cloud setup for data storage... Yeah, I know that would be challenging and there would probably be so many audit points that nobody would believe there was no data storage on a US-based server... But the base concept is a major blocker for us whenever we look at cloud/full-web services (Canadians in British Columbia, working with private, personal data)
September 25, 2011 at 9:30 AM
Anonymous said...
1st) I prefer to have all data on my (corporate) control. Especially I do not want that some of my data is stored in the US. So web applications should be Open Source, and able to be hosted on own servers.
2nd) I prefer desktop applications with online capabilities (like good old desktop mail applications). I still want to be able to work on something even offline and
3rd) At least yet web application cannot gain the usability that desktop applications have. E.g. I prefer to work with keyboard instead of the mouse.
4th) Above all i hate Flash applications, fortunately they get less and less.
September 25, 2011 at 12:05 PM
ngn said...
What it would take ... as a start:
1) Guaranteed connectivity 24/7 anywhere in the world
2) Guaranteed security
3) Guaranteed data integrity (or SLA covering data loss and (incidental/intentional) modification
4) Guaranteed full control over one's data and tools
Otherwise, I use Google web tools daily ... but they are not the only one.
September 25, 2011 at 11:44 PM
Vladimir said...
I am mostly on the web now anyway. The one thing that is keeping me back is the lack of a great IDE for JVM languages. If I can find that, I will use my chromebook exclusively (or more).
September 26, 2011 at 3:29 AM
Mendelt Siebenga said...
We'd need more freedom developing for the web first. Right now we can choose between javascript and .. eh... javascript. You'd get a lot more developers developing for the web if all browsers would support a standard virtual machine like llvm, jvm or the clr that we could develop for in the language that best suits the application we're working on.
September 26, 2011 at 3:50 AM
Tuan Kuranes said...
A server web in the browser.
I mean, app should be able to talk to local machine using a webserver (node for instance...).
Would allow Web to be really p2p.
(data stored in the webserver would be localstorage sync'able between computers)
Pretty much like "Opera Unite"
Example apps:
- privacy storage, with local alerts when someone checks, with confirmation needed for info to be released.
- data storage vizualisers
- data storage sharing between apps with a SINGLE api.
- server hosting for local network games, apps, etc.
- connection to LAN accesible web appliance (tvbox, hifi, electricity management X10, etc...) accesible like privacy things.
- emergents apps, server side, now per client.
September 27, 2011 at 12:17 AM
Arthur said...
>>> "We’d love to hear what apps you’re still using in your business which haven’t yet moved to the web and why."
That's brilliant ... as if an perfect 27/7 internet availability is guaranteed - it's not. When you're reliant on the internet and the ISP messes up or some construction work damages the cable you're well and totally on the loosing side.
Then there is responsiveness, there's no way to get rid of lag without caching everything locally - which means syncing the desktop to the cloud would be a better option and if the cloud goes poof you don't really have to care.
Oh yeah, end-to-end encryption would be required so that NOBODY could ever access my data once it leaves my computer.
Not to mention that if everyone were to migrate to the "cloud" the amount of data going across the net would pretty much explode, potentially resulting in bad performance for everyone (that's where the despicable and dirty people come in who want to charge extra for guaranteed performance or the use of services at all)
October 7, 2011 at 2:40 AM
Max Dunn said...
It is an interesting theoretical question, but I think it boils down to either:
1. Extreme poverty... if I were reduced to only being able to afford a dumbed down computer like the current chrome books that are an insult to the intelligence of any self-respecting human
2. An extreme improvement in the quality of web-only experience, in terms of:
a. The availability and cost of bandwidth to connect to the web
b. The reliability, security and availability of cloud-based persistence
c. The functionality of web-based applications
Certainly with the dilettante quality of software from Google, chrome books will need to be heavily subsidized for years to come to enjoy any market share whatsoever.
October 14, 2011 at 3:04 AM
Seth Fulton said...
In order for me to use nothing but the web, I must be in control of my data.
Once I put my data in the hands of a third party web service or application, I am no longer in control.
Unhosted.org is developing technology that will put control of user data back where it belongs: With the user.
October 16, 2011 at 12:54 AM
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