5 ms·

What "new and exciting" is on the web? After I dumped Windows, moved to Linux and especially after bought a Mac I actually started enjoying installing and expl

by tx 18y ago

What "new and exciting" is on the web? After I dumped Windows, moved to Linux and especially after bought a Mac I actually started enjoying installing and exploring new (to me) software. I can honestly say that these programs changed the way I work or even think about something: ssh, gvim, quicksilver and (oh yes) multi-touch on the latest MBP. So far there is only one online application I use: gmail (dumped POP3 clients long ago) and it isn't particularly exciting. Everything else is the same old online stuff: ever-changing flavors of news reading, talking to people, humor, etc. Just like it was last year, just like it had always been. Always, even before Internet, when I was on FIDO. Apple makes computers fun again: there is a lot of cool stuff to play with. Do you realize that while everyone is drooling over little piece of online advertisement money, Apple is actually milking the desktop? Sometimes I wish PG didn't do Viaweb, but rather did something in consumer software space, YC'd been much more interesting.

mlinsey 18y ago
Keep in mind I'm looking at this from a mainstream consumer angle, not a hacker angle. This also means I have a much, much longer definition of "new". The way I see it, the main killer apps for computers throughout the 1980s and 1990s were business software: Office, Quicken, etc. Web-only killer apps for mainstream audiences: Google, Wikipedia, MySpace/Facebook, Blogger, YouTube, EBay, Flickr. Some of those are Web 1.0, but all the same, I can't think of any home runs for the mainstream audience since the late '90s that have been desktop software. In fact, the last one I can think of is instant messaging clients, which are now moving onto the web. Your "same old online stuff" is the main thing people are thinking of when people say "I'm buying a computer to surf the web".
- anewaccountname 18y ago
  > In fact, the last one I can think of is instant messaging clients, which are now moving onto the web. Napster was pretty big.
  - jimbokun 18y ago
    "Napster was pretty big." Then you could also include iTunes, bringing us back to the Apple discussion.

by tx 18y ago

mlinsey 18y ago

Keep in mind I'm looking at this from a mainstream consumer angle, not a hacker angle. This also means I have a much, much longer definition of "new". The way I see it, the main killer apps for computers throughout the 1980s and 1990s were business software: Office, Quicken, etc. Web-only killer apps for mainstream audiences: Google, Wikipedia, MySpace/Facebook, Blogger, YouTube, EBay, Flickr. Some of those are Web 1.0, but all the same, I can't think of any home runs for the mainstream audience since the late '90s that have been desktop software. In fact, the last one I can think of is instant messaging clients, which are now moving onto the web. Your "same old online stuff" is the main thing people are thinking of when people say "I'm buying a computer to surf the web".

anewaccountname 18y ago
> In fact, the last one I can think of is instant messaging clients, which are now moving onto the web. Napster was pretty big.
- jimbokun 18y ago
  "Napster was pretty big." Then you could also include iTunes, bringing us back to the Apple discussion.