Web Browser Interface
There is a noticable distaste from the older generation of software designers towards using the internet as a means to deliver an application to a user.
I would like to state, first of foremost, that I feel that this belief is neither well grounded, nor supported by the recent trends in the industry.
That is not to say I don't understand why older developers (and users) feel the way they do. Certainly, not all web interfaces are created equally. In fact, the tools for such developments are fairly new to the industry (the production of a Java suite of webdev applications is analogous to the development of the first C compiler). As time progresses, the state of the art steadily creeps upward - and at its current point is it becoming evident that web applications are here to stay.
Let's consider a simple example... finding directions from one address to another. There have been steady increases in this since the proliferation of the automobile (and thus, a means and a reason to go from address to address).
Paper maps. Unfold them. Find your address. Find the index for the target address by its row-and-column. Locate the target in the designated grid location. Plot a course from point A to B.
Map Software. Install it onto your computer (did you buy it... or did it come with your computer?). Type in the two addresses. Have it plot a course for you.
MapQuest. First generation web application. Type in two addresses, and get a map and directions. Advantage over the previous: could be updated with new roads!
GoogleMaps. Second generation web application. Satellite / Hybrid view. 'Nuf said.
Let's consider something that probably isn't as accepted though, because I would bet that the number of paper-map-users who are also tech-savvy (no matter what the age) is dwindling.
Google now has a word processor that supports auto-save (it is called Gmail - it has 2+ GB of available hard drive storage space). There is a web based CRM tool available from Salesforce.com. Many SCM Tools (this is the area that I work in) offer varying qualities of Web Based support (from CVS to ClearCase).
That is just to mention a few. Now, the question begs... why a web application? Why.. desktop independance, of course. With a web mechanism I have automatic network support. I can get to my information from my cubicle, from my home (granted a firewall doesn't protect it), from a workstation across the country, or from the WiFi connection at the local coffee shop. [that said... from a coffee shop *without* a WiFi connection, I am SOL].
So, they are here. Their quality is vastly improved over a few years ago. Get used to web apps.
There is a noticable distaste from the older generation of software designers towards using the internet as a means to deliver an application to a user.
I would like to state, first of foremost, that I feel that this belief is neither well grounded, nor supported by the recent trends in the industry.
That is not to say I don't understand why older developers (and users) feel the way they do. Certainly, not all web interfaces are created equally. In fact, the tools for such developments are fairly new to the industry (the production of a Java suite of webdev applications is analogous to the development of the first C compiler). As time progresses, the state of the art steadily creeps upward - and at its current point is it becoming evident that web applications are here to stay.
Let's consider a simple example... finding directions from one address to another. There have been steady increases in this since the proliferation of the automobile (and thus, a means and a reason to go from address to address).
Let's consider something that probably isn't as accepted though, because I would bet that the number of paper-map-users who are also tech-savvy (no matter what the age) is dwindling.
Google now has a word processor that supports auto-save (it is called Gmail - it has 2+ GB of available hard drive storage space). There is a web based CRM tool available from Salesforce.com. Many SCM Tools (this is the area that I work in) offer varying qualities of Web Based support (from CVS to ClearCase).
That is just to mention a few. Now, the question begs... why a web application? Why.. desktop independance, of course. With a web mechanism I have automatic network support. I can get to my information from my cubicle, from my home (granted a firewall doesn't protect it), from a workstation across the country, or from the WiFi connection at the local coffee shop. [that said... from a coffee shop *without* a WiFi connection, I am SOL].
So, they are here. Their quality is vastly improved over a few years ago. Get used to web apps.
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