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"Browsers aren't real tools." oh yes they are you probably haven't worked pre browser based systems. eg just before I switched to the web in 1995 I worked on a

"Browsers aren't real tools." oh yes they are you probably haven't worked pre browser based systems. eg just before I switched to the web in 1995 I worked on an oracle forms system. To deploy a pilot system to 5 seats the Other developer and I went to Liverpool and spent 2 day setting up those 5 people - this required feeding 15 or 16 floppy disks in the right order to install the oracle forms product. As I said to my boss after the project was done imagine the savings if your rolling this out to 500 people and you could use the existing browser.

TeMPOraL 8y ago
That has nothing to do with knowledge work; the core solution in your example isn't even the browser, or the WWW - it's the Internet in general, which allows a company to avoid the logistics of shipping software on an actual (air)ship. You could achieve the same with an FTP client. Using a browser as a runtime for your application has its own benefits and drawbacks, but that's another topic. GP's point is that browsers ain't real tools for working with knowledge. I wholeheartedly agree. Today's browsers are complicated application runtimes that allow vendors to serve content however they wish. Vendors of Internet services have their own goals, of which helping the user is one of the least important. That's why UX on the web is one of horrible inefficiency and near-zero interoperability. A proper tool for knowledge worker need to support end-user customization and end-user control over content as first-class concern.
- denniskane 8y ago
  This and this, to the last two sentences. "Linux on the Web" (my baby) will be taking over in short order to rectify the situation (see my recent post history for more info). Been joyously hacking away on it almost nonstop since 2012. I've never felt a need or desire to work for anybody. That's all I do (when I'm not doing that thing I do when I'm out on the town).

TeMPOraL 8y ago

That has nothing to do with knowledge work; the core solution in your example isn't even the browser, or the WWW - it's the Internet in general, which allows a company to avoid the logistics of shipping software on an actual (air)ship. You could achieve the same with an FTP client. Using a browser as a runtime for your application has its own benefits and drawbacks, but that's another topic. GP's point is that browsers ain't real tools for working with knowledge. I wholeheartedly agree. Today's browsers are complicated application runtimes that allow vendors to serve content however they wish. Vendors of Internet services have their own goals, of which helping the user is one of the least important. That's why UX on the web is one of horrible inefficiency and near-zero interoperability. A proper tool for knowledge worker need to support end-user customization and end-user control over content as first-class concern.

denniskane 8y ago
This and this, to the last two sentences. "Linux on the Web" (my baby) will be taking over in short order to rectify the situation (see my recent post history for more info). Been joyously hacking away on it almost nonstop since 2012. I've never felt a need or desire to work for anybody. That's all I do (when I'm not doing that thing I do when I'm out on the town).