I’ve been travelling for a few weeks, and have been catching up on stuff I missed while I was gone. One interesting article from last week was a detailed experiment by Infoworld writer Oliver Rist, Can Web-based applications outwit, outplay, outlast the desktop? Rist’s challenge was to operate for an entire week without using any desktop applications – he’d have to use only web-based apps accessible via a browser. This sounds fairly simple – Google, Zoho, and others have been developing Web apps, and many pundits believe this model of computing will spell doom for traditional desktop applications. Certainly, a few Web apps have prospered in the face of desktop competition, notably Salesforce.com. This CRM application has done very well against high end competitors like Siebel as well as lower end software like ACT!, not to mention Microsoft’s continued attempts in the area. But are we ready to forsake our desktop apps, notably Microsoft Office? Rist’s story provides some of the answers.
Rist’s methodology was fairly simple – review the Web-based productivity apps in each space (e.g., word processing, spreadsheet, e-mail, and presentation), pick the most functional app in each category, and try to use it during the no-desktop week. What he found was that there are some decent tools on the Web, but that as a group they aren’t ready to replace traditional desktop apps.
Was the experience worth it? Definitely. Are the applications worth the trouble? Mostly not. Zoho is definitely the standout in the group. It’s the only one that not only offers most of the apps I need but also seems to have a clear vision of where it’s going. And it’s free. ThinkFree and gOffice are similar, but neither has the breadth of apps, features, or collaboration that Zoho does.
The rest seem to be offering these apps simply because they can. Google’s Writely and Spreadsheets are impressive examples of Web 2.0 technology, but neither can compete with a desktop app on its own. And neither takes enough advantage of the Web’s particular technologies as yet.
Plus, all these applications are hampered by their very foundations: the Web. Without a Web connection, you can’t use these applications. With a spotty Web connection (such as the one at Bryant Park), you’re dead. Locally installed applications are simply more reliable and feature-rich. No big surprise there.
Zoho found Rist’s article to be very nice and elaborate (surprise! :)).
I tend to agree with Rist that within a few years these apps will get significantly more appealing. He expects that the low cost of the apps will pique the interest of small business once their functionality is strong enough. I can see a few other factors driving Web app growth as well. One is the future ubiquity of Interet access. At the moment, this isn’t a big deal for most office (or home) locations, which tend to have increasingly reliable and high bandwidth connections; for a mobile worker, though, a solid Internet connection is hardly assured. With our current patchwork of WiFi hotspots, many of which are restricted to subscribers, one can’t rely on always having Web access. Now, though, free WiFi seems to be spreading, and services like Verizon are offering laptop connectivity wherever one has cell phone signal. A few years down the road, Internet connectivity may not be available everywhere, but it’s likely to have a far greater footprint than today.
Ubiquitous Internet will eliminate one major obstacle to using Web apps, and one can certainly imagine downloadable helper apps to provide some kind of local functionality when not connected. Bandwidth improvements will help, too, as applications simply can’t respond in a sluggish manner, wherever they are located. And the minimal IT infrastructure and support needed are likely to be particularly appealing to small and medium businesses. So, don’t sell Web apps short – there are some hurdles to be overcome, but we WILL see more of them in the future. Don’t expect Microsoft to cede this market to Google, Zoho, or anyone else – they own the desktop market, and one can expect them to devote major resources to becoming a leader in Web-based productivity as this market matures.
