preemptive strike on the death of operating systems – web apps

Needing to syncronise all our devices, it is only a matter of time before people start switching to web based applications and storage. Just very recently I’ve started to sync my desktop calender with an online calender.

Obligatory jab. The boffins at Microsoft would need to find a simple yet secure way to access files remotely. I really can’t seem them achieving this with the mess they’ve managed to make of Vista. The Myth of the Infinitely Fast Machine. Achieve something that works fast on an old machine then it’ll be great on the modern powerhouses we use to wile away the hours on youtube.

Today, I found my way back to Worth1000, a website devoted to high quality photoshop contests. The guys behind that site have come up with some great looking web based applications they are grouping together in aviary.com. Touchingly, each is named after a bird. They’ve got photo and image editing, including vector images. Such is the high standard, they even have an app called Toucan devoted entirely to helping people develop their own colour palettes.

I’ll hopefully look into the apps individually in greater detail soon. I’ve got offline equivalents to compare them to.

Innovatively, (as far as I’m aware), they’ve included in their terms, a summary at the side explaining the legal speak in layman’s terms – including smileys . I hope this catches on – the summary that is, not the smileys. Generally, it is my practise to scan the terms of websites, but it really only gives you the gist of things.

Free currently, hopefully permanently, and in beta. Hopefully they won’t charge for this in future either, but I do see they want you to pay to try and sell your stuff in their marketplace. Fair enough. It stops people putting junk up for sale and stuff might actually sell.

Since it is web based, they can probably offer extra stuff really cheaply – or make plenty profit on top themselves. A reasonable subscription for more features would perhaps be cool – although I’m perhaps just not yet aware of all the features.

Looking forward:

its simple enough even kids can use it, and they don’t need to bother with installing yet more applications on the family computer

the guys behind this know what they are doing, even offering well written lessons in how to draw stuff on their blog

they are setting a great precedent, where any competitors will really have to step up to the plate and produce something really special (perhaps the boffins and brainiacs at Microsoft finally breaking into the web?!)

Please share your thoughts and experiences with web applications.