Will the Internet continue to be mainly a tool to broadcast tremendous amount of information or it will evolve as a platform where we will have access to infinity of web services?
I am starting to use web services in prevision of my India trip in 2 months. I started using a web mail application to access my POP account instead of Outlook; I started using Bloglines to retrieve my feeds instead of Omea Reader; I started to use b2Evolution to blog instead of Radio Userland.
The first reason why I started to use these web services was to access them, anywhere in the world.
However I found that I got much more advantages by using these web services instead of their standalone software counterpart considering the fact that I get rid of using 3 memory and CPU consuming applications. It is a great advantage for me considering that I work on a 2 years old laptop with just enough memory to run Windows XP. A simple lightweight application, IE, give me access to all these services. Enhance it with table browsing and you have a really good replacement for these applications.
We, Occidental people, can afford high quality and high priced computers. However, the next computer market comes from the East. Millions of people are waiting to enter into the cybernetic age. They will not enter it with 3000$ computers, but with 200$ ones. The fact is that with only one a web browser, they will have access to all available web services, like us. Will the era of standalone computer softwares, as we know it, will vanish? Probably not for specialized software, but you could bet that it will be the case for mainstream software applications.
Another thing is that countries like India seems to create computer communities and widespread computer education with cybercafés. These web services will become their “virtual desktop”. They will have the same productive power, without owning any computers, from anywhere in their countries.
Finally, is the future of Internet these web services? Personally, the more I think about it, the more I think that they are.
There is a non exhaustive list of the types of web services you can access on the Internet.
- Web Mail. Hotmail; Gmail; Yahoo
- Chat systems. MSN Messenger
- Feed readers. Bloglines; Newsgator
- Pinging services. Fred’s ping service (shameless advertisement); Ping-O-Matic
- Management and organization. Basecamp; Backpack; Ta-Da List
You, what type of web services are you using? Send me them and I will add them to the list.
Max
July 1, 2005 — 5:50 pm
hello, Fred.
I agree: web-based services will probably replace stand alone softwares in a not so far future. The way we use the Internet is going to mobility, so web based services are the future.
Just one little point about third-world countries (and second world, sometimes): in those countries there is a great problem: connectivity.
Until they have no widely spread broadband connections, it’s better using stand alone applications than web based ones, in most cases, at least.
I don’t live in a third world country (until now…eh eh), but in my home I have a non flat connection (I pay every single second), and we are millions all over the world! So, we need to connect, download what we need, and read/watch it in a second time. In those case, stand alone email clients and feed readers are essential.
That’s why I think what you say is surely true, but in a future.
Fred
July 1, 2005 — 6:30 pm
Hello Max,
Yeah you are right; I sometime forget that we have access (in America) probably to the best broadband infrastructure. Nowadays, all moderate Internet users have broadband connections in their homes. Some coffeehouse gives a free access to unlimited wireless broadband connection.
However, I know there is a broadband Boom in countries like India. So, as you said, this is for the future, when peoples will get more connectivity 😉
Salutations,
Fred
Jay Oatway
July 2, 2005 — 12:38 am
I use everything on your list. But what makes all those services great are the backdoors–that’s where you’ll see the future, in something known as API. It’s the “must have” of this decade, sort of like how a “website” was a must have a decade ago, even though nobody was quite sure what to do with it.
The evolution of the Internet will be more than just “web-based services”. It’ll be about the open-ended interfaces of web-services, the APIs. Today, anyone who understands how to call data from a REST protocol can cobble together their own custom designed services–from mulitple web-based service offerings from multiple companies. And while achieving this result is still beyond most people, it’s only a matter of time before it gets user friendly enough to support mass tinkering. Mass Innovation will replace Mass Production as the key economic driver of this century.
The mass-innovation-Internet then gets even better–it goes mobile. Web-based services make even more sense on handheld devices, where memory and processing power is limited. And this is where the US is flagging.
Adoption of next generation mobile devices is slow in North America compared to Europe, Asia and even Africa.
Find out more about the future
Fred
July 2, 2005 — 11:27 am
Hello Mr. Oatway,
Yup you are also right on this one. And the best recent example is what GeoBloggers done with Google Maps and Flickr: http://www.geobloggers.com/
In North America, especially in Canada, we developed effective and low-cost broadband networks. Our mobile networks are really deficient and too expensive (compared to what you have in Europe). Personally I never owned a mobile phone, and I do not know when I will have one.
The fact is that wireless networks are far less expensive for you (Europe, Africa and Asia) and could be installed and operational much more quickly. I also think that in the long run, it will be much more effective to have these hyper developed mobile networks than these wired, broadband networks.
Within 10 years, it will be so interesting to see what people will develop by inter-connection all these web services API! I can’t wait to see and use the result.
Salutations,
Fred
deewoo
July 5, 2005 — 2:32 pm
Why not try Bloglines.Bloglines is much better than newsgator. You can synchronize bloglines with blogbot for outlook. Folder hierarchy is synchronized between Outlook and Online via blogbot. It’s much better than newsgator between outlook and online.
If you like desktop news client, You can use Greatnews to synchronize bloglines like newsgator using feeddemon. Good news is Greatnews is a wonderful free software but feeddemon isn’t.Folder hierarchy is synchronized between Bloglines and Greatnews. Feeddemon doesn’t synchronize Folder hierarchy between newsgator online and itself. Greatnews can be found at :http://www.curiostudio.com/
If you like newsgator for outlook, don’t worry, blogbot does the same and better job for outlook. blogbot can be found at http://www.blogbot.com/out/.
Fred
July 5, 2005 — 7:53 pm
Hello Deewoo,
I never saw Greatnews before. However it seems a really interesting product. I checked their website and it look like really nice. When I will have some minutes I take the time to install it and check it out more in deep.
Thank for these point outs.
I agree with you, Bloglines is a great product. I had doupts however, since I use it, they vanished.
Salutations,
Fred