My Internet Notebook

a journal on software, mobile, marketing

Archive for February, 2008

Is Seamless Online Offline Computing Finally Coming?

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In a NY Times article: Adobe Blurs Line Between PC and Web – New York Times, John Markoff features Adobe’s fisrt official release of AIR, a runtime that allows online applications (i.e. browser based applications) to be taken offline (i.e. disconnected desktop application).

This is clearly going to have big implications for the existing software developers and companies because all existing applications have to be re-written to take advantage of the capability of AIR. But the advantage is that potentially your applications could also work on many types of devices (such as advanced mobile phone) if and when Adobe ports their AIR runtime to these mobile platforms.

As with all things software, the concept is clearly very good. But there will be a number of players that all want to be the de-facto standard bearer for the new paradigm. So Adobe is not alone in this space.

Small players like OpenLazlo and Xcerion are creating “Web-top” or “Web operating systems” intended to move applications and data off the PC desktop and into the Internet through the Web browser.

Mozilla has created a system known as Prism. Sun Microsystems introduced JavaFX. Google is testing a system called Gears. Microsoft is pushing its alternative to Flash, called Silverlight.

Written by Y.

February 25th, 2008 at 2:32 pm

Posted in Business,Web2.0