Google Gears and Bringing 2.0 to the Desktop: The Real Question is Why
by
on April 07, 2008,
Just call me out of touch, but I just don't get the idea behind moving Google Apps offline. You can give me talking points about competing with Microsoft and unified functionality all you want, but in the long run, what does it do other than create a circle that seems nothing more than keeping developers in jobs.
The two hallmarks of Web 2.0 have been making the web social and removing the reliance on the desktop. Google Apps and friendlier-UI counterparts like Buzzword (our coverage), Peepel (our coverage), and newer entrants like Blist were supposed to have freed us from the solitary confines of the desktop, which made sense, especially when it comes to sharing documents and remote work teams. All you needed was the ability to import and export documents from and to Microsoft Office or Open Office and you were off and running.
Early adopters were accepting when some of these new online applications had fewer features than their desktop cousins, but the ability to switch PCs and share documents more than made up for any sacrifices.
Harry McCracken's disappointment in adoption of Google Gears, doesn't make a lot of sense for me. At this point, I can't think of a single online application that I love so dearly that I want it ported to my desktop. I love Adobe Air apps for their ease of install and cross-platform functionality, but I have no Air apps that aren't smaller apps that are no more than an interface for a web app that's site-specific (like Twhirl). If an app isn't adding some core functionality to an app, why do I want to download it and install?
Especially when it comes to the Google Apps office tools, their apps have a long way to go in gaining the type of loyalty that would drive people to use them offline in place of established desktop apps. While sparse UI may work for ads and search, they don't give off that friendly feel of usability that users look for in utility applications. And until that changes, there won't be any great need for a platform that brings those apps to the desktop.
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Svetlana Gladkova
Vamsi Kishore
Peet McKimmie 
Irel Johnson
Hi Cyndy,
There are several reasons that we have added offline functionality to Peepel, a few reasons that you may be interested in are.
Disconnected networks, such as a university students working in various places around campus, and not always being able to access wifi but still wanting to work on documents / spreadsheets
Working in places where the network does not exist, such as on Airplanes.
Also an automatic offline mode helps when the network goes down temporarily (such as your dog eats your network cable, or children trip over power cords) so that you are not interupted in your work.
Thanks
Steve
hi, sending this from my mobile since my connection is down for hours (and midnight).
Now I regret not syncing Google Reader, but glad I can catch up Twhirl and have my SlideRocket presentations offline.
That answered the Why for me loud and clear.
i’ll comment more tomorrow when hopefully my line is back up. typing this on my num. keypad took me ages already
@Steve I understand needing the ability to have functionality offline, as I’m often stuck with no WiFi access. What I don’t understand is the thinking behind bringing an app with fewer features than an established desktop app back down. As others have noted, most of the apps utilizing Gears so far have even less functionality. With features degraded over each porting, why not have a sync with the original apps?
@Mike Now see, that gave me a giggle. I don’t use Google Reader; I actually use an offline app for Mac called endo. I can read every feed that doesn’t truncate to a summary in the reader whether I’m online or off. I have a duplicate online feed with my Profy account on the alpha platform, but endo gives me the ability to work whether I have network connectivity or not. I haven’t found an online reader that gives me all the feature set I have with endo, and sacrificing those features for an online app only to sacrifice more to bring it back via Gears or Air seems silly.