Throw away your desktop software?
Some see the future of software to be Web apps. Others see some sort of combination of desktop and Web. The talk is still mostly speculation since there are many imponderables. However, Scott Spanbauer has done a real live experiment for PC World and he likes working just on the Web. In an article, Life Without Desktop Software, he reports:
PC World asked me to give up desktop applications for a week and work solely on the Web–and I still haven’t gone back to the desktop.
My own experience in this area is mixed. I write a lot of this blog at the site. This is fine except when Verizon drops my DSL connection or the MySQL servers at my Web host have a hiccup. If I don’t back up my compositions frequently, I sometimes lose my work. I also write a lot of email on the Web at Yahoo. It isn’t uncommon for a glitch at Yahoo to happen when I’m writing and I have to start the email over again. There are certainly times when Web-based applications offer advantages - collaborative work, for example. Also, Web email is great if you travel or use several different computers. However, I am still going to do things like writing articles, coding, and creating Web pages on my local computer.