Blair Moxon writes:
> Richard,
>
> I think its great that you can download information via Metacard through the
> web. Unfortunately, in the business world that I'm in, MetaCard over the web
> is a non-starter for the following reasons:
>
> Our users LOVE the web and want everything web-enabled. BUT they want it
> from a standard browser window - nothing else. The reasons for this are
> pretty clear. The users work in a distributed environment and want to be
> able to log in to any computer, anywhere, anytime, and bring up the
> information they want.
>
> They don't want to install an application on every machine in order to run
> it. They also don't want to train people to use yet another tool. There are
> other reasons but I've gotta run.
I also enjoy the "do it from any machine" aspect of true Web applications.
But what I'm after here is a different animal, something rarer, but if we
can define it clearly I believe it is truly one of the sweet spots for
MetaCard.
Napster, for example, would be a relative abomination from a usability
standpoint if it had to be done inside if a browser window.
The program you're reading this in is another great example: how many prefer
typing their email into Yahoo's email form page, rather than enjoy the
conveniences of Outlook, Eudora, or other dedicated application?
As I come across more examples (a thank you for the ones you folks have
posted so far), the trend I'm seeing could be characterized like this:
Data Presentation vs. Data Manipulation
The browser pretty much rules as far as presentation goes. With HTML,
JavaScript, and Flash, there's little you couldn't do, and too much market
momentum to even try to avoid 'em anyway.
But with data manipulation (writing email, retouching photos, editing
video), the market remains as strong as ever for desktop apps. In fact,
software has been outperforming hardware sales growth for the last few
quarters.
I suppose we could simplify this even further: Viewing vs. Authoring.
The browser is a Viewer, and a good one, but its no secret that most Web
pages for created for it were authored on the desktop.
I can't help but think there must be a million categories of software that
have yet to be invented. Given MetaCard's speed and flexibility there's no
reason why a few of those categories couldn't be invented right on this
mailist.
--
Richard Gaskin
Fourth World Media Corporation
Multimedia Design and Development for Mac, Windows, UNIX, and the Web
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