I’ve just been watching the google wave presentation. Pretty amazing application, it’ll probably scare the hell out of a number of communication software providers. But what’s even more amazing is that it’s almost entirely build using HTML 5. Just one feature needs the Google Gears plugin: drag and drop of desktop resources to the web-page. Google is working on adding this to the HTML 5 standard.
Google Wave more or less proves that almost all applications can be written using open web technology: Html 5, Javascript and CSS. There is no need for proprietary, single vendor, solutions. I think this is very important, especially now that the number of different devices is exploding with the mobile web. iPhone is now the best mobile platform, but Android has a good opportunity because not everyone like all the restrictions created by Apple. Palm might also become a relevant mobile platform again, Nokia still has a large market share, and some people still use Windows Mobile. Are you going to write native applications for all of these devices, bet on the current number one (Apple), or on the number one of yesterdays technology?
I think the savest bet when it comes to application development is on open web technologies. There are a number of frameworks that enable Javascript to take advantage of the device api’s, html 5 has support for caching and a local datastore. Html is not just for web applications anymore, HTML enables you to create web, mobile and desktop applications all with the same vendor independent, open technologies.
I’m really hoping that Google Wave will be the killer application for HTML 5, that people will upgrade their browsers and that developers will be able to take advantage of all the improvements modern browsers have to offer: better CSS implementations, improved Javascript performance, caching, local database, animations, drag and drop, etc.
The Web has been such a huge success because it wasn’t a single vendor solution. It is build on open standards, open for everyone worldwide to use. Without these open standards the web wouldn’t be the success it is today. If we want the mobile web to be as successful or more, it also needs to be build on open standards and open technology. If this happens it will be a bigger success than the desktop web: a lot more devices, always available, not just when your sitting behind your desk.