It’s interesting how the concerns most people have with online applications and remote data hosting (security, availability, privacy) are out-weighed by the simple fact that nothing is less secure, less reliable and (often) less private than our desktop.
I’d still stir clear from using gmail as my corporate email account (too much content scanning for my taste), but otherwise the web is a life saver.

Of course the opposite is also true - just as your laptop died, leaving you dependant on web services, so can your internet connection die, or be unavailable (travel).
And your online service (especially if it is free) can be down for whatever reason (SLA? what SLA? How many times did you try to access gmail only to be told that it is temporarily unavailable?)
I’m not sure there’s a clear win-win for either approach (web services v software), especially for enterprise users, as opposed to the casual consumer.

And yes, powerpoints are a mess, as editing one is a highly interactive process (upload, make changes, review, etc.), much more so than editing a spreadsheet.

Anyhow, I’m following your posts with interest. I’m not convinced _free_ web services are mature enough for corporate users. Hosted solutions /w guaranteed SLAs (at a fee) seem to be a safer choice. Think hosted Zimbra, hosted SugarCRM/Salesforce etc., Foldera (if their paid service will include SLAs).

Oren

I agree with 2 issues you raise. I don’t think business services can be seriously provided for free (well, I don’t think consumer services can be forever provided for free, but if you exclude the SLA then perhaps advertizing does make sense for many services). Then in addition there is the offline problem with online services. I happen to think 90% of the online SLA issue can be solved by extending the apps to the desktop even if just for synching.

I think, however, that traditional desktop software that has extended itself to the web (Like MS office) is short lived. The dominant model will be with online apps growing desktop extensions. Think of Powerpoint for a second. What an unproductive overkill! It was not REALLY designed for collaborating and sharing (an absurd given the fact it’s THE application used ONLY for sharing and collaborating). Sharing PPTs today is the nightmare of a every outbound professional. They bounce back againt over quota’ed mailboxes, take forever to upload, are impossible to track. Its magic is with the fact it really made an art director out of every Joe Shmoe. Once this magic is achieved online, Powerpoint will be useless. With word, excel and outlook its a no brainer. Once online apps develop their desktop synch extensions I’m uninstalling. Then comes the price issue and the SLA - I think it will eventually solve itself.

i think most importent from this post is REMEMBER TO BACKUP ! , webservice or no webservice , webservices by definition does that for ya even if you dont bother todo so .

Zoho Show is just out

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