> Routing stateful apps using string URLs is not a solved problem. Which thick-client app gives you a universally shareable string that restores it to a specifi

> Routing stateful apps using string URLs is not a solved problem. Which thick-client app gives you a universally shareable string that restores it to a specific predictable state? Google Maps seems to have solved a version of this problem. There is a unique URL for every position and oriention of your view of the world, including street view. But even then it doesn't log you in as the user who sent you the link. (That would be crazy.) The link will probably also not include any user-specific display preferences. If Google Maps had a "kilometers from you" widget in the corner, you would not expect that value to be reconstructed from the URL. So really URLs are not keys to the entire state of the app. They represent a "location" which is both abstract and very specific to the application. Personally I think of the URL as just another input to the state of the application, really not that different from user events, HTTP responses, etc.