4 ms·

I don't see why an RSS app that resides 100% on a mobile device couldn't sync directly with another RSS app that resides 100% on your home computer or your work

by gnosis 14y ago

I don't see why an RSS app that resides 100% on a mobile device couldn't sync directly with another RSS app that resides 100% on your home computer or your work computer. No external RSS service necessary. That said, I understand that sometimes externally controlled and centralized services can provide features and convenience at the expense of user control and privacy. I care enough about my privacy, and aware enough of the alternatives to choose to tend to choose privacy over features and convenience (when I'm faced with such a choice). I know a lot of users don't care about their privacy, don't realize how loss of privacy could impact them, or don't know that there are alternatives. So they often choose to use "free" web services that give them some features or convenience (or just because all their friends use it, etc.). This is unfortunate, but hopefully as more people become computer literate, the media exposes more cases of privacy violations, and more people become victims of identity theft, internet stalking, harrassment, and discrimination based on their computer and internet use habits, they'll start to wisen up and care more about privacy. I only hope that by then it won't be too late.

pseut 14y ago
Agree completely. I'd love to use my phone as the sync server, the thing's on and under-utilized all the time anyway.
- tanzam75 14y ago
  That is a very good point. It used to be that you had to keep your computer on to serve as your own cloud. If your electricity prices were high, this didn't make sense. But now, the smartphone is the always-on computer. And it uses minimal power -- possibly even less power than cloud computing, which is deliberately oversized in order to handle peak loads. I suspect it's too complicated for non-geeks to figure out, though. There are also certain drawbacks-- for example, your phone has real storage limits, while the cloud can expand without user intervention.
amirmc 14y ago
I also care about privacy and data ownership [1] but the specific issue I was getting at is the 'always-on, always-connected' feature of cloud services (regardless of whether they're under your control or not). > "I don't see why an RSS app that resides 100% on a mobile device couldn't sync directly with another RSS app that resides 100% on your home computer or your work computer. No external RSS service necessary." How would my phone know what I'd read on my computer if I'd already left the house? Of course, it's possible in principle but wouldn't some form of cloud-based co-ordination be necessary in order to make the experience seamless for a user? I'd be keen to know if there's something I've overlooked here. [1] I'm working on a set of projects related to it - http://perscon.net http://perscon.net (site needs updating but there's enough to give you an idea)
- gnosis 14y ago
  "How would my phone know what I'd read on my computer if I'd already left the house?" Your phone could just contact your home computer via IP address (or maybe domain name, dynamic or otherwise) your home computer has. Your home computer would, of course, need to be on at the time your phone tries to connect to it (and vice versa). Another option is to use an intermediary server under your control, like perhaps a VPS host that you'd run some syncing software on, and have both the phone and your home computer sync to that. That way, only the VPS and the machine/phone you're syncing from would need to be on at a time (ie. both your phone and home computer wouldn't need to be on at the same time, if that was a problem for you).
  - amirmc 14y ago
    Thanks for explaining and we're actually on the same page. Working on things to make both of those options easier for devs/users (end-to-end connections and personal VPNs). Hopefully will have things worth showing off later in the year.

by gnosis 14y ago

pseut 14y ago

Agree completely. I'd love to use my phone as the sync server, the thing's on and under-utilized all the time anyway.

tanzam75 14y ago
That is a very good point. It used to be that you had to keep your computer on to serve as your own cloud. If your electricity prices were high, this didn't make sense. But now, the smartphone is the always-on computer. And it uses minimal power -- possibly even less power than cloud computing, which is deliberately oversized in order to handle peak loads. I suspect it's too complicated for non-geeks to figure out, though. There are also certain drawbacks-- for example, your phone has real storage limits, while the cloud can expand without user intervention.

amirmc 14y ago

I also care about privacy and data ownership [1] but the specific issue I was getting at is the 'always-on, always-connected' feature of cloud services (regardless of whether they're under your control or not). > "I don't see why an RSS app that resides 100% on a mobile device couldn't sync directly with another RSS app that resides 100% on your home computer or your work computer. No external RSS service necessary." How would my phone know what I'd read on my computer if I'd already left the house? Of course, it's possible in principle but wouldn't some form of cloud-based co-ordination be necessary in order to make the experience seamless for a user? I'd be keen to know if there's something I've overlooked here. [1] I'm working on a set of projects related to it - http://perscon.net http://perscon.net (site needs updating but there's enough to give you an idea)

gnosis 14y ago
"How would my phone know what I'd read on my computer if I'd already left the house?" Your phone could just contact your home computer via IP address (or maybe domain name, dynamic or otherwise) your home computer has. Your home computer would, of course, need to be on at the time your phone tries to connect to it (and vice versa). Another option is to use an intermediary server under your control, like perhaps a VPS host that you'd run some syncing software on, and have both the phone and your home computer sync to that. That way, only the VPS and the machine/phone you're syncing from would need to be on at a time (ie. both your phone and home computer wouldn't need to be on at the same time, if that was a problem for you).
- amirmc 14y ago
  Thanks for explaining and we're actually on the same page. Working on things to make both of those options easier for devs/users (end-to-end connections and personal VPNs). Hopefully will have things worth showing off later in the year.