Browsers the new OS?

Om Malik says "The browser is the new OS" in an article for CNNMoney.com. Technology people have been saying this for years. Browser based applications don't concern themselves with the underlying Operating System...the browser is their platform.

The problems with web based applications have been; reliable Internet connections, fast bandwidth, and off-line operation. How many demos have you seen fail because the Internet connection went down, or the bandwidth was so slow it was painful to watch? It is getting better, but off-line use remains a problem.

Om says not anymore..."What's making it possible is a new generation of browsers. Early next year Microsoft (Charts), Mozilla, and Apple (Charts) are expected to release enhanced versions of IE, Firefox, and Safari, the first ones specifically tuned for Web applications."

OK, so Internet connections are getting more reliable, high speed bandwidth is more ubiquitous, and now browsers will be able to work at some level off-line. For some users that is all they need. For most enterprise class users it will not be sufficient. There are still the issues of data security, advertising distractions, and quality of service.

There is no doubt the software industry is moving towards web based software services. Microsoft CTO, Ray Ozzie, calls this transition the "Client/Server/Services" continuum. Users want their software solutions to work in all three modes at different times, and stay synchronized with the latest updates. That is the real challenge.

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Comments

[Peter Cranstone]

Hi Don,

Why not modify the browser to allow it to transmit new kinds of data over the existing HTTP protocol?

Think about it this way, the holy grail is to make information (advertising) so relevant on the target device that the user(customer) actually wants to read it. To achieve that you will need to “personalize” your service. Which in turn means you have to know three things about Me... Who I am (likes/preferences) What device I'm using at the time, and perhaps the most critical of all, Where I am.

Let me give you an example and then tie it back into your post. I'm travelling for the day to LA. I arrive and I want to find the nearest Starbucks (assume I'm driving down the freeway when the desire strikes). I fire up my mobile device and simply log on to Starbucks web site. It already knows Who I am (my browser is sharing my personal data with them) - it knows that I'm on a mobile device (the browser sends screen resolution, connectivity status etc) and because I have a GPS enabled phone I'm able to transmit my position in real time to the web site. The next thing that shows up on my browser is a "mobile coupon" good for the next 30 minutes - along with directions to the nearest Starbucks from my present location.

Now to tie this back into your post - The OS and browser are simply the mechanisms that allow you to talk to the Internet - to achieve the Starbucks mobile coupon on demand solution you have to transmit more data to the web server. The only way to do that is modify the browser to send a lot more data in real time – and this is the critical part of the message, “without the need for the consumer to type in anything.” Remember I’m driving down the freeway NOT at my desktop.

Now for the security side of the equation. The solution must be “opt-in” and the customer must be in control of his privacy. You can’t solve this one directly in the browser. However all you need is an application that talks to the browser that holds you data in a secure data base. It has one simple control – enable “Me”. Turn it on and the browser is on steroids talking to the web, turn it off and you have what you have today, the web doesn’t know me anymore. It also has something called “protected fields”. This is something very powerful it allows me to share “selected” data with a web site. For example, I’m happy sharing my name and address but not my phone number and whereabouts.

This solution translates across everything that uses a browser and attaches to the Internet. Our company has a solution already running which illustrates the Starbucks idea mentioned above.

Cheers

Peter

[Marc Orchant]

Don:

It's not a zero-sum game. The issue is not whether online apps in the browser are "sufficient" for the enterprise or for the rest of us who live in that other world of small- and medium-sized businesses you pretty much ignore in your post. That assumes an either-or decision needs to be made.

I believe the reality is not so black-and-white and that many people, in organizations of all sizes, will adopt online apps that work in the browser for an increasing amount of the work they do that is not impacted by the constraints you use to argue for the status quo. Not all data requires the highest security. Not all online apps distract with ads. Quality of service is a relative thing depending on the nature of the app or service being run and the work being done.

Ray is right - it's a continuum.

[Jason McMinn]

Hey - I remember Desktop.com and MyWebOS.com in the 90's. Complete OS in a browser!

I have used Google docs and it is cool I will admit, but not only do you have to overcome the power of the desktop vs. online apps but more importantly social behavior and the way people are used to working.

It may happen, but not for 5+ years. The collaboration tools are the real obvious advantages.

[Don Dodge]

Peter, Awesome vision for the way web applications should work. I look forward to seeing the beta or demo. Let me knoe when you have something to look at.

Marc, I am not ignoring small business. I explicitly said "For some users that is all they need" and "There is no doubt the software industry is moving towards web based software services. It is a continuum." Come on...read before firing off a reply.

Jason, You are right, it takes time for the market to move and behavior to change. The technology always moves faster than the market. It will happen but it will take time.

[Kevin Burton]

I've often used the offline issue as a killer feature for desktop applications but there are a few problems here.

1. Offline doesn't work. There are many applications that just can't be used offline. When I wrote NewsMonster three years ago it was the only aggregator at the time to support full offline support including total caching of HTML articles. No other aggregator out there supports this and even if there are a few niche products I don't know about it certainly isn't mainstream.

2. EVDO baby! I'm going into meetings and for some reason will have to demo Tailrank. about 20% of the time the network has WEP but I just whip out my trusty EVDO phone.

FYI.. I'm posting NOW from my barbershop over EVDO. :)

So much for offline support....