Friday, November 03, 2006
Thin and Fat (clients)
An article caught my attention today. It talks about Jonathan Schwartz, Sun CEO. I already expressed my admiration for him in a previous post (and now that he added also when to if and how Java will be open source, I even like him more). In the article, one answer - in my opinion - stands out:Schwartz panned thin clients as an end-all, be-all solution: "I just don't believe in thin clients. Right there, I said it." Even iPods are thick clients, he said.It looks like a simple comment, but it is simply going against the entire world of Web 2.0 ;-) That is like saying "a web browser is only meant to browse the web". Unheard of. Blasphemy.
Well, I agree with Jonathan. I do not buy the idea of Web 2.0 around doing Word Processing, Email and stuff inside a browser. Maybe because, when I started Internet Graffiti in 1994, I was forced to develop sites thinking about the concept of the hypertext, the links and the Back and Forward buttons. The last three items are the basis for web browsing. If you run an app inside a browser and you screw everything up clicking on Back or Forward, why are you running it inside the browser?? Why don't you have a downloaded app on your PC, that updates automatically? Just because Google say so??
Ok, enough with the PC Web 2.0. When it comes to mobile (not just the iPod hardware as a thick client, but also the software inside the iPod) I just do not see the thin client paradigm work at all. I thought about Mobile Ajax, but I do not seem to get convinced about it. I want a mobile widget pre-installed (the music player). I want the data there when I turn it on (my music stored locally). I want an iPod (actually, I like the new shuffle, in case you do not know which present to buy me for Christmas).
T-shirt idea of the month:
IN MOBILE
BTW, if you happen to be at Mobile2.0 in San Francisco on Monday, I'll be there giving a demo of our Phone Sniper tool during the Launch Pad session ("showcasing cutting edge start-ups in the mobile space"). If you are around, give me a buzz.
Posted by Fabrizio at 18:21
2 Comments:
Mauricio Bendeck said...
Fabrizio,
To common-like users fat apps are a disgust (user experience) and more so when seeking desktop support. Hence, CIO's budget inelasticity and relegation to be a subordinate role of the CFO, all saying TCO, price/performance, Application life cycle and outsourcing are out of whack. For the CFO and survivorship of the CIO office, Thin client makes bottom line financial sense. BTW – this is where the Health and Financial Services industries are heading (security and process efficiency elasticity). Now, with corporate America moving towards the telecommuter (virtual travel) direction, and network (wireline PONs and wireless Wi-Max) throughput is increasing, fat client financial viability does not make sense. Common-like office apps that are moving to a browser-like look and feel balanced makes sense for telecommuters and the CFO. Tech application support begin to diminish as well as the overwhelming patching and security for vulnerabilities. Thin client has a promising place in the blurring lines between work and personal life as more workers are working from non-corporate America office, i.e. home, and do not want to increase their dedication of time to resolving application performance issues where these issues are resolved at the application delivery level.
Best,
Mauricio
Comment Posted at 08:02
Fabrizio said...
Mauricio,
I totally agree with you. Thin client make more sense for CIOs.
But what about the users?
If a thin client is unusable because it takes forever to load or it is impossible to navigate, why would you use it?
Mobile is all about usability. Your constraints are the input and output interfaces. You can't change them. They are small. A mobile device is used for seconds, not hours. If you do not get what you need in the first 20 seconds, forget it. Your users will not use it...
That said, the only solution to match CIOs and users needs are pre-installed apps. They are fat apps (not thin) and usable. Do you believe CIOs are unhappy with BlackBerry devices? That they feel they cannot manage the email client pre-installed on those devices? I do not think so.
Take common devices, put open standard based apps on them and you are golden.
Please do not ask me to use a browser-based app that requires me to find a pen in my pocket to interact with it... I won't.
fabrizio
