TechgnosisWeb Prime

Recently, I realized something: I’ve started using more apps online than I do on my actual computer. Now, I’m not a typical user, far from it. I’m an alpha geek, as it were, so I love trying out stuff ont he bleeding edge. Also, due to the nature of my job, I tend to be constantly jumping from one computer to another. I’ll be working merrily along on one machine, and the next day, or even in a couple of hours, I’ll have switched to another PC in another location. I don’t have a laptop computer (yet), but I still manage to keep my information and documents organized, accesible, and workable, from anywhere that has net access. Without even realizing it, I’ve been using the long-fabled Web Desktop… or at least part of it.

All I need is a computer with Firefox installed… and if they don’t have Firefox, well, I’ve always got Portable Firefox on my trusty USB key. Then, I load up a few key sites, each on it’s own tab:

First, there’s NetVibes. That’s the main site, the one where I link from to the rest of my Web Desktop. Netvibes allows me to keep and view information from most of the sites I visit every day, all in one page, in a nice and flexible interface. RSS feeds for the news and information sites I read are presented each in their own box, and fully readable without having to exit NetVibes itself. Tech news, security alerts, personal sites, I’ve got them all constantly updated and constantly accesible right there.

For those sites that don’t have RSS feeds but which I access regularly, Netvibes has a box where I can keep a list of bookmarks, categorically arranged and easily taggable and searchable, so I have my most often used bookmarks accesible no matter where I am. I can keep up with Flickr photostreams, or search multiple search engines directly from it too. Integrated GMail and POP Mail boxes allow me to quickly scan my incoming email without having to log in to those services.

In addition to all the functionality it already has, NetVibes also plays well with others: Another box lets me view, add, and access files to my free online Box.net storage account. 1 GB of free storage accesible from anywhere online. Sure, the max file size is 10MB, but that’s plenty, and if I ever need more, the commercial Box.net plans are very fairly priced. As for document editing and sharing, the Writely box gives me access to my documents on the Writely online service (recently bought up by Google), where I can view, edit, create, export, and collaborate with others on text documents using a very nice interface. It’s not MS Word, but it’s close enough for the stuff I need to do while on the road, and exports nicely to .doc format.

So, let’s see: so far, we’ve got a Desktop (NetVibes), My Documents (Box.net), WordPad (Writely), My Pictures (Flickr), Outlook (GMail), an RSS Reader (NetVibes again)… Not too shabby. But there’s more!

While GMail handles the messaging aspect of Outlook, the calendaring features are not addressed by any of the services I’ve mentioned so far. Enter Kiko: a sweet online calendaring app, done in AJAX and, if I’m not mistaken, Ruby on Rails (more about RoR in a future post). I can view, edit, add, etc. appointments, manage contacts, send myself and my contacts appointment reminders via email, IM, or mobile phone, all within a really nice, usable interface. I started using Kiko only a few days ago, but it’s quickly growing indispensable.

So that’s the Calendaring and contact management dealt with. What’s left? How about Instant Messaging? Trillian’s great on my regular desktop for handling the multitude of IM accounts I have, but when I’m on the road, it’s not quite as accesible. Enter Meebo: an incredibly slick site that lets me connect to MSN, AOL, Jabber, GTalk, Yahoo, and ICQ, with as many accounts as I want, all with one login, in a natural IM interface. if you haven’t tried it out, I really suggest you do.

So, that’s it, my Web Desktop. NetVibes open in one tab, Kiko in another, Meebo in a third, maybe GMail in a fourth, and this blog in the fifth. Messaging, calendaring, information, documents, all the basic things you need in a desktop, from anywhere, with no need to install anything, and all free. It’s not perfect: none of these online applications is quite as full featured as their traditional desktop equivalents. But they’re more than good enough for me to get my work done on a daily basis on the road. Is the Web Desktop here yet? Maybe it is, and no one’s quite noticed yet.

Technorati Tags: Box.net, Writely, Flickr, NetVibes, Kiko, Meebo, GMail