How Far Will Browsers Go
At AccelerEyes, we are experimenting with some amazing browser-based technologies related to our business. We are pushing the boundaries of what can be done in a browser.
It is stunning to think what web browsers can do today. Without installing anything, without configuring anything, and without paying attention to the underlying hardware and software components, you can do pretty much anything in a browser. Sometimes those things are using the compute cycles of your own computer. Other times they are using the compute cycles of someone else’s computer. More often than not, you do not even know where the computations are running that make the things you do in a web browser work.
Ask yourself a question: “What is the most popular video playback software?” It’s not DivX, Windows Media Player, Quicktime, Real Player, or any other installed software. It’s web browsers. Web browser usage is killing all other types of installed software.
You can do everything you do in Microsoft Office in a web browser (I’ve posted about that before). You can make phone calls and video chat in a browser.
Because of browsers, the notion of a “thin client” is making a comeback. But the growth of browser usage is not dependent on the growth of thin client usage. Browser’s don’t have to be connected to the internet to be useful. You can still do a lot with local files on a computer using a browser without an internet connection.
Browsers have dominated the PC over the last 5 years. So much so that it is easy to wonder how far browsers will go. Think about all the other things you do with a computer. Is there any reason you shouldn’t just do everything in the browser?
What do you think?
From the conversation
Comments preserved from the original post.
anonymous
bogus. ajax is slow as hell as this comment box proves. form textboxes much faster. you can’t do everything ‘word’ within a browser unless you also say: completely ignoring speed.
melonakos
In reply to an earlier comment
I don’t understand. How is running software in a browser any slower than running it standalone?
The point is not to say that browsers are faster or slower; just that they are versatile, user friendly, and naturally allow for client-side or host-side processing without user intervention.