Popular new Desktop Applications developed after 2004
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So I was watching the Google I/O keynote and the presenter made an interesting point: after 2004 there have been no *new* widely popular (having a *huge* install base) desktop applications (excluding games and browsers) such as Microsoft Office, Skype or iTunes. The new category of applications are mostly web applications: Twitter, NetFlix, GMail, Google Docs etc. (Yes there are some desktop applications built to access these web data). The video (unfortunately no transcript): http://www.youtube.com/googledevelopers#p/c/02292AD8CFFE1349/1/mbVVDDu8f9k[^] The presenter mentions that at approx 7:00 minutes into the video. This does not mean that desktop applications are dead but it does imply that more and more desktop application will server as custom front-ends for web applications.
Rama Krishna Vavilala wrote:
So I was watching the Google I/O keynote and the presenter made an interesting point: after 2004 there have been no *new* widely popular (having a *huge* install base) desktop applications (excluding games and browsers) such as Microsoft Office, Skype or iTunes. The new category of applications are mostly web applications: Twitter, NetFlix, GMail, Google Docs etc. (Yes there are some desktop applications built to access these web data).
There have always been very few "Widely Popular" applications. Since the time of the first software on the personal computer it is very hard to find an open niche that is not transitory. Even web applications compete and rise and fall. Netscape used to be a popular browser, then it was replaced by Mozilla after its purchase by AOL. AOL used to be the most popular internet access software, before that compuserve. Before Office there was wordstar and visicalc (individual applications before office replaced them with a competing one-install product). This is quite normal. Applications are based on trends. This is why desktop OS's change (as apposed to the alternative that they never change and never grow and move forward). Desktop applications have the same issues. The current trend is web applications. That does not guarantee that the trend will continue and will not be replaced by a new trend. It does not mean that someone cannot unset the unseat-able within a niche (yahoo once ruled the web-presence before google). Times change, trends change, activities change over time for the family unit. What will come is difficult to predict. Just as the presence of non-web applications could not predict the switch to web applications, so the presence of web-applications cannot predict to what will come. The mass public is fickle. The only constant is the ability to be fickle. They will support you today and drop you tomorrow. That is life. All industries should keep that in mind. :) If you want to be safe you have to be in one of the constants of the universe.... death and taxes. You work in one of those industries, now you got a career. :)
_________________________ John Andrew Holmes "It is well to remember that the entire universe, with one trifling exception, is composed of others." Shhhhh.... I am not really here. I am a figment of your imagination.... I am still in my cave so this must be an illusion....
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Rama Krishna Vavilala wrote:
So I was watching the Google I/O keynote and the presenter made an interesting point: after 2004 there have been no *new* widely popular (having a *huge* install base) desktop applications (excluding games and browsers) such as Microsoft Office, Skype or iTunes. The new category of applications are mostly web applications: Twitter, NetFlix, GMail, Google Docs etc. (Yes there are some desktop applications built to access these web data).
There have always been very few "Widely Popular" applications. Since the time of the first software on the personal computer it is very hard to find an open niche that is not transitory. Even web applications compete and rise and fall. Netscape used to be a popular browser, then it was replaced by Mozilla after its purchase by AOL. AOL used to be the most popular internet access software, before that compuserve. Before Office there was wordstar and visicalc (individual applications before office replaced them with a competing one-install product). This is quite normal. Applications are based on trends. This is why desktop OS's change (as apposed to the alternative that they never change and never grow and move forward). Desktop applications have the same issues. The current trend is web applications. That does not guarantee that the trend will continue and will not be replaced by a new trend. It does not mean that someone cannot unset the unseat-able within a niche (yahoo once ruled the web-presence before google). Times change, trends change, activities change over time for the family unit. What will come is difficult to predict. Just as the presence of non-web applications could not predict the switch to web applications, so the presence of web-applications cannot predict to what will come. The mass public is fickle. The only constant is the ability to be fickle. They will support you today and drop you tomorrow. That is life. All industries should keep that in mind. :) If you want to be safe you have to be in one of the constants of the universe.... death and taxes. You work in one of those industries, now you got a career. :)
_________________________ John Andrew Holmes "It is well to remember that the entire universe, with one trifling exception, is composed of others." Shhhhh.... I am not really here. I am a figment of your imagination.... I am still in my cave so this must be an illusion....
Also, beer.
Christian Graus Driven to the arms of OSX by Vista. Read my blog to find out how I've worked around bugs in Microsoft tools and frameworks.
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Also, beer.
Christian Graus Driven to the arms of OSX by Vista. Read my blog to find out how I've worked around bugs in Microsoft tools and frameworks.
Christian Graus wrote:
Also, beer.
But how can you know?
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Also, beer.
Christian Graus Driven to the arms of OSX by Vista. Read my blog to find out how I've worked around bugs in Microsoft tools and frameworks.
Christian Graus wrote:
Also, beer.
actually, that would be alcohol. Beer is the latest fad of the alcohol constant... *ducks and runs* :laugh: :laugh:
_________________________ John Andrew Holmes "It is well to remember that the entire universe, with one trifling exception, is composed of others." Shhhhh.... I am not really here. I am a figment of your imagination.... I am still in my cave so this must be an illusion....
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Also, the OP said a *huge* install base. I don't think Dia qualifies on that front either.
Wjousts wrote:
*huge* install base
does the largest land-based testing area in the USA count as a large install base? ;P
_________________________ John Andrew Holmes "It is well to remember that the entire universe, with one trifling exception, is composed of others." Shhhhh.... I am not really here. I am a figment of your imagination.... I am still in my cave so this must be an illusion....
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So I was watching the Google I/O keynote and the presenter made an interesting point: after 2004 there have been no *new* widely popular (having a *huge* install base) desktop applications (excluding games and browsers) such as Microsoft Office, Skype or iTunes. The new category of applications are mostly web applications: Twitter, NetFlix, GMail, Google Docs etc. (Yes there are some desktop applications built to access these web data). The video (unfortunately no transcript): http://www.youtube.com/googledevelopers#p/c/02292AD8CFFE1349/1/mbVVDDu8f9k[^] The presenter mentions that at approx 7:00 minutes into the video. This does not mean that desktop applications are dead but it does imply that more and more desktop application will server as custom front-ends for web applications.
So what he's saying is that, because office applications, telephone applications, music players, etc. already exist, all innovation will now be in things like e-mail (which already exists), twatter (which also already exists), and "web applications" like google docs (i.e. on-line rehashes of existing desktop applications). What a load of "look at me! I work in this field, so that's all there is!" cr@p.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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So what he's saying is that, because office applications, telephone applications, music players, etc. already exist, all innovation will now be in things like e-mail (which already exists), twatter (which also already exists), and "web applications" like google docs (i.e. on-line rehashes of existing desktop applications). What a load of "look at me! I work in this field, so that's all there is!" cr@p.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
No! All he is saying is that innovative and popular applications will now be web applications rather than desktop applications. That's where the next wave of developer focus is now.
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No! All he is saying is that innovative and popular applications will now be web applications rather than desktop applications. That's where the next wave of developer focus is now.
Rama Krishna Vavilala wrote:
That's where the next wave of developer focus is now.
Nuh-uh. That's where his focus is/will be. And he's spooning it on, but all the "innovation" is along the lines of "how can we port this desktop app to a web interface?", which is not even a remote cousin of innovation.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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Christian Graus wrote:
Also, beer.
But how can you know?
Observation.
Christian Graus Driven to the arms of OSX by Vista. Read my blog to find out how I've worked around bugs in Microsoft tools and frameworks.
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Rama Krishna Vavilala wrote:
That's where the next wave of developer focus is now.
Nuh-uh. That's where his focus is/will be. And he's spooning it on, but all the "innovation" is along the lines of "how can we port this desktop app to a web interface?", which is not even a remote cousin of innovation.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
Agreed. The biggest thing I see is that tools reserved for pros keep filtering their way down, and new tools keep helping people expand their abilities in surprising ways. Back in the day, clear video with interchangeable lenses was a studio-only gig. Now you can buy a RED-ONE camera ($14K) as top gear (heh... doubles as a 16 MP camera - 4k x 4k!), or use something as lowly as a Kodak 1085is (eBay $50) with surprisingly decent results. Cutting was reserved for specialized machines... now you have Final Cut / Sony Vegas / Lightwave (coming soon). Even better, people are collaborating online about video cutting; some software lets people share the "cut info" across the net while keeping the video files duplicated across sites -- client server collaborative at its best (pushing the videos out is annoying on less than a fiber!). And that's just video; see the nifty stuff that's been happening with still pictures, or some people using iPads as music devices. As far as "lack of universal applications", I think that's because we all want to go someplace different, and nowadays -- we can! I like words/videos, but can't carry a tune. Mac is a singer, but words are a necessary evil (poetry good. technical manuals bad). Ginny is a photographer and would rather play with light setups and music to move the models than scripted words. And now, even "word processing" is moving around a bit as people pursue their interests -- why have a "word processor" when you can have a "script editor" (keeps track of sequences, actors and scenes) or even a "lyric processor" (keeps track of syllables, rhythyms and beats), or a "recipe studio" (keeps track of meals, ingredients, and variations)?
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So I was watching the Google I/O keynote and the presenter made an interesting point: after 2004 there have been no *new* widely popular (having a *huge* install base) desktop applications (excluding games and browsers) such as Microsoft Office, Skype or iTunes. The new category of applications are mostly web applications: Twitter, NetFlix, GMail, Google Docs etc. (Yes there are some desktop applications built to access these web data). The video (unfortunately no transcript): http://www.youtube.com/googledevelopers#p/c/02292AD8CFFE1349/1/mbVVDDu8f9k[^] The presenter mentions that at approx 7:00 minutes into the video. This does not mean that desktop applications are dead but it does imply that more and more desktop application will server as custom front-ends for web applications.
Well.. there's Spotify - a great example that desktop apps still rule, and will probably (hopefully) do for some time, because they are just better.
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So I was watching the Google I/O keynote and the presenter made an interesting point: after 2004 there have been no *new* widely popular (having a *huge* install base) desktop applications (excluding games and browsers) such as Microsoft Office, Skype or iTunes. The new category of applications are mostly web applications: Twitter, NetFlix, GMail, Google Docs etc. (Yes there are some desktop applications built to access these web data). The video (unfortunately no transcript): http://www.youtube.com/googledevelopers#p/c/02292AD8CFFE1349/1/mbVVDDu8f9k[^] The presenter mentions that at approx 7:00 minutes into the video. This does not mean that desktop applications are dead but it does imply that more and more desktop application will server as custom front-ends for web applications.
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Christian Graus wrote:
Also, beer.
actually, that would be alcohol. Beer is the latest fad of the alcohol constant... *ducks and runs* :laugh: :laugh:
_________________________ John Andrew Holmes "It is well to remember that the entire universe, with one trifling exception, is composed of others." Shhhhh.... I am not really here. I am a figment of your imagination.... I am still in my cave so this must be an illusion....
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Christian Graus wrote:
Also, beer.
actually, that would be alcohol. Beer is the latest fad of the alcohol constant... *ducks and runs* :laugh: :laugh:
_________________________ John Andrew Holmes "It is well to remember that the entire universe, with one trifling exception, is composed of others." Shhhhh.... I am not really here. I am a figment of your imagination.... I am still in my cave so this must be an illusion....
Not sure what timeline you're measuring "the latest fad" by, but beer has been popular[^] for thousands of years and I've been a big fan for ~30 or so.
Mike Devenney
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Not sure what timeline you're measuring "the latest fad" by, but beer has been popular[^] for thousands of years and I've been a big fan for ~30 or so.
Mike Devenney
True but societies did not exchange recipes until modern eras. Most societies had their own type of alcoholic solution to worldly problems. It isn't until recently that beer made it everywhere.
_________________________ John Andrew Holmes "It is well to remember that the entire universe, with one trifling exception, is composed of others." Shhhhh.... I am not really here. I am a figment of your imagination.... I am still in my cave so this must be an illusion....
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I would like a video of you running while ducked. I have always believed it inefficient and silleh.
quack! arriba arriba Yeehaw!
_________________________ John Andrew Holmes "It is well to remember that the entire universe, with one trifling exception, is composed of others." Shhhhh.... I am not really here. I am a figment of your imagination.... I am still in my cave so this must be an illusion....
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So I was watching the Google I/O keynote and the presenter made an interesting point: after 2004 there have been no *new* widely popular (having a *huge* install base) desktop applications (excluding games and browsers) such as Microsoft Office, Skype or iTunes. The new category of applications are mostly web applications: Twitter, NetFlix, GMail, Google Docs etc. (Yes there are some desktop applications built to access these web data). The video (unfortunately no transcript): http://www.youtube.com/googledevelopers#p/c/02292AD8CFFE1349/1/mbVVDDu8f9k[^] The presenter mentions that at approx 7:00 minutes into the video. This does not mean that desktop applications are dead but it does imply that more and more desktop application will server as custom front-ends for web applications.
I've been a big fan of Microsoft's OneNote application and the first time I used it was in 2006 after a medical adventure (botched test that put me in the hospital for 2 1/2 months and permanently damaged my pancreas). Since my new disease was potentially degenerative and the company I worked for sacrificed goats daily on the Altar of Schedules, they were worried that an unexpected hospital stay would screw with their precious schedules. They couldn't fire me for medical reasons, so they accused me of technical incompetence (this is where my friends start laughing and I have to remind them it was serious at the time) and assigned me to work on a project none of them were capable of. OneNote acted as my auxilary brain for collecting notes culled from the God Google's search results while I was still heavily medicated. I was able to finish the project (on time) and after their shock and dismay dissipated, they decided they didn't need it anyway. But since then, I have moved on to another company and I now have my minions share our research notes and documentation through it. It still needs work, but being able to cut&paste fragments of web pages and still have the complete URL automatically added to the end of the paste has been wonderful.
Psychosis at 10 Film at 11
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So I was watching the Google I/O keynote and the presenter made an interesting point: after 2004 there have been no *new* widely popular (having a *huge* install base) desktop applications (excluding games and browsers) such as Microsoft Office, Skype or iTunes. The new category of applications are mostly web applications: Twitter, NetFlix, GMail, Google Docs etc. (Yes there are some desktop applications built to access these web data). The video (unfortunately no transcript): http://www.youtube.com/googledevelopers#p/c/02292AD8CFFE1349/1/mbVVDDu8f9k[^] The presenter mentions that at approx 7:00 minutes into the video. This does not mean that desktop applications are dead but it does imply that more and more desktop application will server as custom front-ends for web applications.
Although this fact might be correct, the implication here is that the desktop is dead. I do not believe this to be true. The web has opened up a space for applications that could not be well served by the desktop: an efficient means to publish and locate information. All else is open to debate. The desktop is a mature ecosystem. Most of the obvious killer apps have already been invented (e.g. word processing, spreadsheets, photo editing), so it becomes harder for any new app to burst through and dominate a particular market. Add to that the bewildering choice of applications to do just about anything you can think of, and it makes sense that there has not been a new killer app in some time. A new new ecological niche with personal devices has opened. Most of these applications are more closely related to a desktop application than a web application (i.e., they run on the device). Many are a hybrid of the two. It appears that the web / desktop distinctions are starting to blur. This is as it should be.