[LINK] The Thin Client Thickens (as do CIOs, unfortunately)

[Roger Clarke]

[Comments at end]

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080331-google-docs-pulls-head-out-of-the-cloud-goes-offline.html

Google Docs pulls head out of the cloud, goes offline
By Jacqui Cheng | Published: March 31, 2008 - 05:33PM CT

For users who rely on productivity apps to get them through the day, one
major advantage that desktop apps have over online suites is that they
are accessible at any time or any place-no Internet connection needed.
Google is moving towards eliminating that barrier, however, by allowing
Google Docs to be used offline. That's right-thanks to offline storage,
users can now access their online documents while stuck in pockets of
offline hell (such as on an airplane). Or, as Google Docs software
engineer Philip Tucker puts it, users can now bring the "cloud" with
them.

Actually, Google has not yet rolled out this feature for all Google Docs
users. As usual, the company is turning the feature on slowly, starting
with a select number of users and planning to cover everybody in the
coming weeks. Anyone with a Google Gears-compatible browser will be able
to use Google Docs offline-that means IE and Firefox for Windows users,
Firefox for Mac users, and Firefox for Linux users (sorry, no Safari).
For those not familiar with Google Gears, it's an open source project
that Google rolled out last May, allowing web application developers to
access resources on a local computer.

When Google Docs' offline capabilities get activated on your account, a
green circle with an arrow will appear next to your Gmail address at the
top of the document you're working on. That means you're currently
connected to the Internet and that the changes you're making will be
saved both online and off. When you're offline and access
docs.google.com in your browser (or via the desktop icon), you'll see a
gray "no" symbol in place of the green icon to indicate that you're not
connected to the 'Net. When you're connected again, Google Docs will
automatically sync your offline changes with the server again.

Although the Google Docs package has a number of limitations when
compared to more robust productivity suites, it is gaining features
rather quickly. Earlier this month, Google introduced gadget support to
Google Docs, allowing any number of third-party developers to create
add-ons that can pull data from users' stored documents and display it
anywhere. Google also added a presentation app last year to complement
its word processing and spreadsheet applications. Office may still hold
the largest market share when it comes to productivity software, but
Microsoft will need to start making its own apps work seamlessly with
the cloud if it wants to stay ahead of Google.

[The next logical steps?

1.  Provide the user with the choice as to which the master is, and 
which synchs with what

2.  Provide encryption of the off-site copy that's unbreakable by the 
'cloud' i.e. the ISP

3.  Enable interoperability with other email services that don't 
acquire complete copies of your emails, for all time, for the ISP's 
own use

4.  Enable maintenance of the on-device copy using any 
standards-conformant software.  Standards-conformant means ODF of 
course;  but if and when MS learn how to write a spec that's 
unambiguous, OOXML as well.

[I just can't believe the naivety of CIOs who are rushing to convert 
their organisations to Google Docs, as if Google were some kind of 
white knight.  The lock-in factors in the current configuration far 
exceed what IBM and MS started out with.


-- 
Roger Clarke                  http://www.anu.edu.au/people/Roger.Clarke/

Xamax Consultancy Pty Ltd      78 Sidaway St, Chapman ACT 2611 AUSTRALIA
                    Tel: +61 2 6288 1472, and 6288 6916
mailto:Roger.Clarke at xamax.com.au                http://www.xamax.com.au/

Visiting Professor in Info Science & Eng  Australian National University
Visiting Professor in the eCommerce Program      University of Hong Kong
Visiting Professor in the Cyberspace Law & Policy Centre      Uni of NSW