Are PC’s becoming dumb terminals?
With all the furore about SaaS and Multi-tenancy Software Architecture, I'm surprised at the lack of discussion about the change in direction from putting a fully functional independent PC on everyone's desk to putting a "browser terminal" PC on everyone's desk.
I absolutely think there is a place for network provided services such as
- On-demand applications
- Sofware as a Service (SaaS)
- Platform as a Service (PaaS)
- Hosted Application Services
and any other "Pseudo-mainframe" software delivery patterns we seem to be moving to.
However, I have a fundamental problem with all this hype about network provided services being the only solution for delivering applications in the future and the compulsion for you to only use a browser.
If network provided services really is the only solution, then all we have achieved is replacing the mainframe dumb terminal with a browser. What is the point of having a PC at your finger tips, if we no longer can run applications locally? PC does stand for "Personal Computer" after all and is not just a screen with a network port and key board.
For example,
Imagine you get a Eureka moment and you want to write it down in a text editor on your PC.
Local PC application Scenario:
1. Switch on computer
2. Open text editor application on PC
3. Write your brilliant idea
Network Application Scenario:
1. Switch on computer
2. Switch on ADSL connection
3. Open browser
4. Enter application URL
5. login with a user name and password
6. select option to create new document
7. Write your brilliant idea. Oh, I forgot what it was!
I can hear the rumblings about PC failures and losing all your data. Then we go back to my earlier statement about there being a place for network services like online backup. But again that does not stop me from backing up my data locally.
Yes, it's great to be able to access your data anywhere by having your data online but I'd like to have the choice and control over my data and content.
I'm not trying to pit one against the other, that's missing the point. There is room for both types of software applications and more in the future.