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Opportunities on the desktop
Since I am in the business of developing desktop apps — and not web apps — I often ask myself, "What drives a project toward the desktop and not the web?"
The truth is, there isn't much that can't be done on the web these days: drag and drop; edits and validations; visual effects; data access...the list goes on. But, there are crucial (for some) aspects of a desktop app that cannot be replicated in a web browser.
WHAT'S MISSING IN A WEB APP?
- A menu bar (and its short cut keys)
- Real window management
- Contextual (right-click) menus
- Performance
Bear in mind, little of the above has great impact on a casual user. Those who spend their days entering data into fields and manipulating web content, however, often feel otherwise. Waiting for pages to load is never fun. A lock-step, modal interface is no picnic, either; but, Web 2.0 apps built with Rails or Sprout aren't so much that way. Overall, the web is catching up to the desktop in areas where it was once deficient.
This summer, my world (and yours) is changing in the direction in which this Web horse is already travelling. Revolution will allow me (and you) to start developing for the web. I'm not referring to html-level production, but plugin-interpreted code that can use API platform components. This will give us all greater freedom to consider the role of the web as a marketplace for our clients' and our own commercial development efforts. Toward this end, let's look at what's not in a desktop app that we get by default in a web application.
WHAT'S MISSING IN A DESKTOP APP?
- Seamless deployment
- Cross-platform deployment
- Fiercely competitive design environment
- Fully integrated Web
There are many isolated, cloistered desktop app builders who live in their own world. There are many younger, smarter ones who get out in the world, and keep evolving their work within the context of the work of their peers. One thing is for certain: there is much more competition, mingling, cross-transferance, and experimentation in the web spaces than on the desktop. This leaves a lot of room for innovation on desktops.
There is, in my opinion, a great (greater?) commercial opportunity for developers and their publishers on the desktop, provided they follow these guidelines:
- Auto-update your app without interupting your users
- Seamlessly deploy across all desktops (Mac/Windows/Linux).
- Integrate the Web as tightly as possible within your app.
Why is it that we interrupt our users to ask them if they want to get the latest version of an app? Are we publishers just being dramatic? Building value for our products? Maybe. I know in my own apps, i could architect for small, incemental auto-updating that the user wouldn't even notice. But I make a big deal out of it, because, that's the way it's done. Right? So in this one area where the web apps beat the snot out of desktop apps, we could change our ways.
Cross platform deployment is a more or less a given on the web. There used to be quite a bit of special IE-only sites five years ago, but that's all but faded away. If you develop an app for the web, it had better run seamlessly on Windows, Linux and Mac. The desktop, however, isn't viewed as a single deployment target. It's viewed as three separate targets, each of which is optional. I can understand this viewpoint. It is not easy to develop for all three platforms. And desktop developers feel that they have a choice.
There are many more cross-platform desktop dev environs today. Real Basic, Revolution, Flex all work on more of a 4GL, runtime built model — but only Revolution lets you deploy to Linux. Flex can be pricey, but Revolution and Real Basic are quite reasonable. If you want a compile-and-run app, TrollTech will get you there — but you're going to spend some money. Big money. So, the big boys (Adobe, etc.) use TrollTech, of course.
The integration of web access into applications either makes developers nervous or they just don't see the sense. Every user has their favorite browser already. Why integrate one into a desktop application? I admit, this is not an appealing idea to many developers or publishers of desktop applications. But if you try it, actually experience it...well, it has great appeal for the end user. Our firm has done a few integrated web/desktop apps, and the users invariably love it. To enhance and build upon that positive user experience, we're building a class of object called "draggers" that lets the user drag data from a web page into their own database. See what I mean? It's like taking credit for the web in your app! (Al Gore redux.)
Mostly, I believe the key issue is how desktop app builders view themselves. Are we part of a slow-changing, glacial evolutionary model? Or, are we living in a world that changes day-by-day, page-by-page? We do have a choice.
Posted by Jerry Daniels
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