Google Offline
If you're a regular around these parts, you'll know that myself and Adrian have had several arguments debates about the merits of online vs offline applications (ie NetNewsWire vs Google Reader).
Well, lookie what I found in my Google Reader today*. A little button proclaiming something new:
Yes, Google apps are indeed, going offline. When I clicked the little button, this is what I got:
Now, admittedly, I haven't installed it yet. I'm going to wait until I'm not at the start of a 16-hour day in work, and using a computer that I shouldn't really be installing early Betas on.
But I'm looking forward to doing that installing. And saving some of my Google Apps data locally, where I can always get at it. At the moment, they seem so have only rolled out the Google Reader functionality**, but as Google Gears is open-source, I'm reckonin' it won't be long before it works for like, y'know, everything.
*Sorry Gordon, just saw your comment on the previous post. You found it first, I'll admit. :-)
**With a "Please note, however, that Google Gears is not yet intended for general use" -type warning.
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Comments
Oh wow.
I love the Reader. Now with Gears I can be productively wasting time when work's net dies.
Posted by: razorhead | May 31, 2007 1:19 PM
Superb - having the ability to be 'online' when you're actually not. Great stuff.
Posted by: SharkyUK | June 1, 2007 9:54 AM
I think Google Docs will be next, there were rumours of Writely offering an offline mode shortly before the Googlmoth bought them out..
Posted by: Gordon | June 1, 2007 10:36 PM
Excellent analysis G-man. The only thing stopping Docs & Spreadsheets taking over from MS Office was it's reliance on an internet connection.
Then Calendar. Then, after that, Gmail. Then probably Notebook or something else nobody uses.
Posted by: Matt | June 2, 2007 12:08 AM
Sigh.
No the only thing stopping docs&s from taking over from MS office is the fact that JavaScript is not a powerful enough language to program a fully functional application in.
Plus most corporates (you know the guys who actually pay a lot of money to use office) don't want all their data sitting on googles servers.
The only thing stopping MS Office displacing Google D&S is the lack of real collabritive tools. They could do this pretty easily actually, although due to the eingine of large companies I suspect this wont happen as quickly as they should have. Plus sharepoints is crappiest program ever.
This online/offline thing is going to happen in a major way, and I don't dispute that. But everyone keeps to seem missing the point that it can happen from both directions. The web browser simply wasn't architected to be a major platform operating system. JavaScript is a interpreted scripted language. Pound for pound it's like a lawnmower vs a car. Sure you can pimp up a lawnmower and drive down the street in it. But it's still not a car.
The web will move off the browser and become far more pervasive in the way it interacts with everything.
But if everyone thinks that the entire multi-multi-trillian dollar software industry is going to collapse over night because you can now use some web apps offline you're smoking something strong.
Both industries are going to grow. Writing off either is foolish, and understanding what works bets where is smart.
After 25 years of eveolution, Windows, OSX and UNIX are still better operating systems than a web browser. And trying to get a web browser to perform as a real operating system is fool hardy. It's simply not designed to do that and it's far from optimal.
Aah, I just should write a long blog about this.
Posted by: Adrian | June 2, 2007 12:40 PM
YES! Why don't you do that. I'll bet you'll make a better job of it than I did. Try to see it from both sides though. :-)
Posted by: Matt | June 2, 2007 1:03 PM