[AoyW] The WebOS Bandwagon
Paul Boutin ought to jump off the WebOS bandwagon and have a look at the road! Like so many others for so many years now, he trumpets the vision of the WebOS, whereby PC apps and data move online... into the clutches of a posse of middlemen: the app service, the network service, and the billing service.
I've written at some length on this blog about why that model hasn't caught on (and won't), and about an alternative model, the "always-on-you web", that brings web benefits to personal and team software without forcing your apps and data online. Have a look at the "Key Posts" sidebar group on my main page.But the bandwagoneers play on, content to speculate on the road ahead, rather than contemplate the road underfoot, which is wholly impassable.
posted by Liam Breck @ 6:54 AM
5 comments
5 Comments:
The Web OS is the electric car of operating systems. It keeps getting supressed by old school hardware and software companies because it kills their business model...
Ask yourself: "What web site does Paul Boutin write for? Who owns Slate.com?"
The web OS will have lots more false starts, but it will happen, I promise.
- Ref. film "Who killed the electric car". http://imdb.com/title/tt0489037/
I have a theory/supposition of why this will fail also - called "Subscription Saturation" - meaning that at some point, a person (or company) can not pay another $19.99 per month for a service. Specifically for a business, although buying a monthly service is "expensable" - it's not an asset - and most companies needs some assets around just for the ole balance sheets.
Just wanted to say you've got one of the most interesting blogs (and product ideas) that I've seen in a long time.
I'm enthusiastic about the "always-on-you" web being a boon for office workers, but it also seems like it would be interesting to the proponents of the '$100 laptop' for the developing world. Mobile phone penetration is very high there and the ability to carry a full-fledged computing environment that you could interact with when you're near a PC has great promise.
I realize Bluetooth networking is going to be a lot slower than USB 2.0, but what is your feeling about something like airWrx running over Bluetooth on a J2ME phone? You'd want the user to be able to interact with it directly on the handset, too, of course, though in a more limited small-screen mode.
Keep up the good work, and hey, how about throwing up some screenshots of airWrx in action? You know what they say about a picture!
Liam,
Mentioned airWRX in an essay I just posted on my blog. As I mentioned above, I think your idea deserves a look by those thinking about how to deliver inexpensive computers to people in the developing world.
Could you please add link to blog http://soongywebos.blogspot.com/
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