I love my Google Reader (especially the VI hotkey navigation). I really love the fact that I can take my RSS feeds offline with me when I’m about to jump on a plane. However, what happens when the concept of being disconnected from the Internet disappears?
I tend to be a ridiculously early adopter of technology and therefore end up with hopelessly outdated technology that costs 5x more than it should. I have always thought that connectivity should be independent of wires & location. From OmniSky (for my Palm Pilot in 1999) to Intel Anypoint (1.5 mbps baby) to digital phone cards (PocketPC) to EvDO cards… there’s almost never a reason not to have an IP address except on an airplane, a submarine, in a faraday cage, or in deep space. Since I’m unlikely to encounter three of those situations it’s really about the ability to access the net at altitudes of 30,000ft.
I just read today that Delta has announced it is going to provide WiFi on all domestic flights. And it seems JetBlue has been offering limited access since 2007.
As competition forces the cost of mobile connectivity to decline, offline may be a stop-gap solution that eventually becomes a solution in search of a problem. Now this doesn’t mean that some of the advancements that have been associated with offline will also disappear (local data storage, desktop integration, etc.). They will continue to advance the ability of browser-based applications regardless of connectivity. However, the idea that my user interface needs to be stored locally will soon seem quaint.
note: cross-posted at my personal blog
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{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Hmmmmmm – yes, that may be true if you’re living in the States. But there is a whole big world outside of 1st world borders where it will still take years (decades even?) for connectivity to become omnipresent. In the meantime, there still remains a need for offline enabled webapps/online enabled desktop apps.
I was thinking about that too… but then I realized that mobile networks are often more advanced outside of the states than inside it. Primarily due to the cost of running communications lines, most developing countries’ last-mile communications infrastructure is all wireless.
It will be interesting to see the rate of proliferation of wireless internet globally over the next 10 years… especially since wireless internet appears to be destined to ride on top of our mobile phone networks.
Quin,
When I was in South Africa, TSA was creating a metro-ethernet infrastructure which was pretty impressive. Which was pretty cool, but at the same time, since it was a virtual monopoly I was restricted to a very slow connection in the hotel until it became available. So on one hand you may see new technology being rolled out, but until it is available the options were slow and expensive. That is just one measured point, but reality nonetheless.