2007-01-19

Is the WebOS revolution over?

Muli Koppel wrote a nice piece on why the web2.0 revolution has failed. By the same measure, I believe we'd need to conclude that the WebOS revolution, which hasn't even taken off yet, has also failed. Before a real WebOS could even be created to provide the people with a viable web development environment, the term has acted as a gravity point for commercially-minded folks trying to capture hold of people's valuable data. (Correction: Thanks Benjamin) At least the Exo Platform gives you the server code , but the release I've played with doesn't give all of the source and is available under GPL license. EyeOS is also open source and includes a "mini-server" that provides LAMP-like support on your PC, though a database is not required.

Muli's examples of "failed" revolutions, punk, open source, and Second Life, do give room for hope. Each has failed to reach their ideals, but each has also made improvements to our culture along the paths of those ideals.

Perhaps the real revolution is still in the works. Maybe the only way to succeed is to avoid naming the revolution completely until it is already won. Besides, no one has offered me any useful names for the product that will ultimately emerge.

Update (Jan 20): Keep the feedback coming. Let me know why you think the WebOS revolution is on!

Posted by Jason Kridner at 1:22 PM

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5 comments:

  1. The revolution is still running on !
    Web on desktop or desktop on the web => to my mind, it's just a pure non sense. Unless Internet becomes a sure place, no one will ever want his desktop on the web but parts of it...
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  2. All eXo source code is available under the GPL license. I repeat all of it :) maybe you id d not find it but it is available on ObjectWeb forge (currently under subverion)
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  3. The webos revolution has'nt even begun yet, it's biggest players haven't even entered the arena yet for crying out loud.
    I'm thinking of Google and Microsoft, and I'm sure that the ongoing pressure to evolve the web will force it in this direction one way or another.
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  4. Microsoft is has Windows Live and Atlas. Google has a bunch of services, but no platform yet, that I know about. I think the SaaS folks are really looking for a platform that will ease their development.

    Each of you, Benjamin and Mikael, are really doing some interesting things. I'm still trying to find time for a real evaluation of each. I'm changing jobs in a couple of weeks and I expect to devote part of my time to this topic during the day (instead of trying to steal a few hours here and there in the evenings and weekends).

    Looks like folks will stick with the WebOS moniker for a while.
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  5. I believe we are taking small steps in this direction.

    Users are clever and are being cautious about how to use the web. Some things are best on the web and some aren't.

    Klas from MyWebDesktop.net
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