September 7th, 2006
Rich Internet Applications are the bridge between the web and the desktop
I caught a post over on Read/Write Web written by Ebrahim Ezzy regarding Webified Desktop Apps vs Browser-based Apps. He compares a host of "WebOS" applications (which he groups Goowy in with) to webified desktop applications including iTunes and the New York Times Reader. I’ve started having this discussion with more and more people over the last couple of weeks, so it’s fitting to see this post now. Some people just don’t see the "WebOS" market as being something which provides value. Now I use Goowy every day, for all of my organization, so I am a bit biased, but what I think people fail to understand is that Rich Internet Applications (RIAs) provide the best of both worlds.
The best Rich Intnernet Applications provide a layer of abstraction over both the web and the desktop.The best RIAs provide a layer of abstraction over both the web and the desktop. The Webified desktop application, as Ebrahim uses the term, implys installation, which is an old, antiquated model for software delivery. Why should we make people go through the trouble of installing a music store or blogging software if it doesn’t end up getting them anything extra? The web is a fantastic medium for delivery, but Ebrahim is correct when he says that there are situations where the web is not accessible. But with technologies like Adobe’s Apollo and Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF), you can serve your application from a central server, no installation is going to be required (other than the runtime) and you get all the benefits of a webified desktop application - without the headache of DLL hell and with the benefits of a software as a service model. It’s much, much easier for both users and companies to update a single file than go through the typical update process.
Therein lies the power of RIAs over both the web and simply webified desktop applicaitons. For a great many things, technologies like Flash, OpenLaszlo and Windows Presentation Foundation Everywhere (WPF/E) will give you a rich, web based deskop-like experience. The ubiquity and ease of the web can finally be used to deliver powerful, compelling experiences. But there are other applications that need the extra tie to the desktop. They may need to synchronize data or even just make use of the file system. By leveraging Rich Internet Applications, we can use the same code base that power our web-based RIAs, and simply add some of the desktop features we need. Once people start to get that, there is a lot to be gained in productivity and cost savings. Thinking aboout webified desktop applicatons is thinking about the past. The future is going to be applications that mostly run on the web, but have mechanisims to take advantage of the desktop when needed.
Ryan Stewart, a Rich Internet Application developer and industry analyst, recently joined Adobe's Platform Team as a Rich Internet Application Evangelist. full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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