5 ms·

This reminds me of the time Opera made some big annoucement in 2009 that they were going to "reinvent the web", and when they finally revealed what it was, it w

by swalsh 7y ago

This reminds me of the time Opera made some big annoucement in 2009 that they were going to "reinvent the web", and when they finally revealed what it was, it was basically host some files from your browser. https://www.zdnet.com/article/opera-reinvents-the-web-will-anyone-notice/ https://www.zdnet.com/article/opera-reinvents-the-web-will-a...

david927 7y ago
But... that's huge. And it is a big step toward a necessary reinvention of the web. There is more that's needed but that's absolutely a big piece of it.
Quai 7y ago
And that's where Opera failed. Marketing. It was much more than just "host some files from your browser"; if was a full ecosystem with a "app-store" and technology that made it work behind NATs etc. IMHO, the thing that killed Unite (or Alien, as the project was called internally at Opera) was the lack of a killer feature/app that could show off the technology to end users. Too much focus on technology, and way to little focus on apps. It kinda reminds me of Google Wave in many ways. (At an internal hackaton in Opera, me and some colleagues built a rc-car controlled trough Opera Unite with a webcam and custom javascript plugin to control a servos directly from the browser. We also ended up building a picture frame powered by Opera Unite, and got to present it at a stand at MWC Barcelona. Fun times!)
- pfraze 7y ago
  I also seem to remember performance and reliability being a bit weak.
- marknadal 7y ago
  How'd you get around NAT?
shadofx 7y ago
I remember using Opera coupled with a Java program which repeatedly took screenshots to create rudimentary online streaming. This was back before Twitch.tv, when web streaming was low-quality. The screenshot stream allowed me to clearly read the text chat and monitor enemy player activity in an MMORPG running at home, from school computers. Good times

by swalsh 7y ago

david927 7y ago

But... that's huge. And it is a big step toward a necessary reinvention of the web. There is more that's needed but that's absolutely a big piece of it.

Quai 7y ago

And that's where Opera failed. Marketing. It was much more than just "host some files from your browser"; if was a full ecosystem with a "app-store" and technology that made it work behind NATs etc. IMHO, the thing that killed Unite (or Alien, as the project was called internally at Opera) was the lack of a killer feature/app that could show off the technology to end users. Too much focus on technology, and way to little focus on apps. It kinda reminds me of Google Wave in many ways. (At an internal hackaton in Opera, me and some colleagues built a rc-car controlled trough Opera Unite with a webcam and custom javascript plugin to control a servos directly from the browser. We also ended up building a picture frame powered by Opera Unite, and got to present it at a stand at MWC Barcelona. Fun times!)

pfraze 7y ago
I also seem to remember performance and reliability being a bit weak.
marknadal 7y ago
How'd you get around NAT?

shadofx 7y ago

I remember using Opera coupled with a Java program which repeatedly took screenshots to create rudimentary online streaming. This was back before Twitch.tv, when web streaming was low-quality. The screenshot stream allowed me to clearly read the text chat and monitor enemy player activity in an MMORPG running at home, from school computers. Good times