Web Apps: The good and the ugly.

Admittedly, I’m a fanboy when it comes to web applications. This isn’t surprising since developing web applications is my job. But, in all honesty, I find my self using them more and more. Not only for the new functionality not available in desktop apps (think community sites like Yahoo Groups or Flickr) but, increasingly, in place of desktop apps that essentially do the same thing (think Google Docs).

So, why are Web Applications so great? I see a number of reasons:

• No installation (Enter a URL, create an account, and go)
• No upgrade hassles. You get new features frequently without a version number to care about.
  
• Safe to run. No worries about installing spyware or poorly written software that can run amok on your computer (as a non-IE user at least)
  
• Usually compatible with your platform (if it works in Firefox, it will usually work on Linux, Mac OS, Windows, etc.)
  
• Safe and securely store your data. It is safe from your own blundering and from the devious activities of others.
  
• Access from anywhere. You can use the same applications from home, work, an Internet cafe, a library, etc.
  

Now most, if not all, the strengths above can be argued, but I think on average they hold true. However, one of the huge weaknesses that needs to be remedied is the lack of an offline state.

Take for example, the web application GMail. As soon as Google made GMail available for other domains I jumped on it. It works great, ample space, powerful search, get to keep my email address, and no losing data from hardware failures or user errors (OS upgrades gone awry without backups). Wonderful, right? Except now I am completely and utterly tied to the Internet if I want to look up a phone number or read an old email.

This really needs to improve. Internet access is not all pervasive, and where it is available it is certainly not 100% reliable. Not being able to send an email without Internet access is understandable, but not being able to compose an email is frustrating. Obviously, I could switch to a desktop application for an email client. But then I would lose all the benefits outlined above. Rather, I would like to see web applications evolve and provide an offline state.

It is easy to ask for this seemingly contradictory feature and another thing to come up with a realistic framework that current web sites are willing to implement.