The Future of the Browser
I heard recently that in the future, all applications will be run through the browser. This I found mildly amusing. Not because I suddenly remembered a joke, but because of the lack of foresight on part of those making the claim. You see, its just not going to happen, at least not as described.
The way I see it, the browser is only the beginning. It is very basic. And it is far from the end of web-based information and applications. It is interesting how almost all the innovation in browsing has been behind the browser. There are a bunch of scripting languages and technologies that output ever-more complex HTML to the browser. But there has been very little innovation in the browser itself (with the exception of Mozilla).
What I think will actually happen is that the browser will no longer exist. Not because the World Wide Web will disappear, but because the World Wide Web will outgrow the browser. Right now the browser is a window to the world, but the world's getting more complex. There may however be a browser-like application for accessing certain types of information, but it is unlikely to resemble the browser of today.
We are already trying to cram too much through the browser. There must be a better way to design, transfer, and interact with web-based applications.
Eventually there will be no discernible difference between a web-based application and a local application (if there are any more local applications), they will essentially become one in the same.
Something I see today that I really like is how applications are handled in various flavors of Linux. Things like portage, apt, and yum are paving the way to a new methodology for accessing applications. You can basically browse around some interface to find new applications. And when you want to try one you just run a command or click a button and bam!, its all yours. This is a case where local applications are moving closer to the browser.
It is almost like how it was back in the day with dumb terminals. Simple machines that accessed a central, more powerful, computer. Eventually the dumb terminals got smart enough to handle the needed information on their own. But now information is growing like mad, and our machines are not able to hold all this information, so it is slowly reverting back. I believe however that this trend will continue, rather than seesaw back and forth. And our desktops will be a blend of local and remote information with no real differentiation between the two.
The way I see it, the browser is only the beginning. It is very basic. And it is far from the end of web-based information and applications. It is interesting how almost all the innovation in browsing has been behind the browser. There are a bunch of scripting languages and technologies that output ever-more complex HTML to the browser. But there has been very little innovation in the browser itself (with the exception of Mozilla).
What I think will actually happen is that the browser will no longer exist. Not because the World Wide Web will disappear, but because the World Wide Web will outgrow the browser. Right now the browser is a window to the world, but the world's getting more complex. There may however be a browser-like application for accessing certain types of information, but it is unlikely to resemble the browser of today.
We are already trying to cram too much through the browser. There must be a better way to design, transfer, and interact with web-based applications.
Eventually there will be no discernible difference between a web-based application and a local application (if there are any more local applications), they will essentially become one in the same.
Something I see today that I really like is how applications are handled in various flavors of Linux. Things like portage, apt, and yum are paving the way to a new methodology for accessing applications. You can basically browse around some interface to find new applications. And when you want to try one you just run a command or click a button and bam!, its all yours. This is a case where local applications are moving closer to the browser.
It is almost like how it was back in the day with dumb terminals. Simple machines that accessed a central, more powerful, computer. Eventually the dumb terminals got smart enough to handle the needed information on their own. But now information is growing like mad, and our machines are not able to hold all this information, so it is slowly reverting back. I believe however that this trend will continue, rather than seesaw back and forth. And our desktops will be a blend of local and remote information with no real differentiation between the two.
posted by Joe at
3:37 PM
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