A number of people have thrown around the word “webtop” – but in doing so, I think they miss what the future of the web might have in store for us. Web 2.0 purists believe a Web 2.0 world where all functionality, all true computing occurs within the browser or some form of it. But the webtop should not simply imply a WebOS or applications like Writely, Zoho, or Zimbra. Those aren’t really webtop applications – they are just web applications.
There are a number of webtop applications right now – or at least ones that give us a taste of what the webtop may look like. The webtop truly will be a combination of the web plus desktop. That means some of the computing power will come from the desktop yet the data (and a lot of functionality) will be accessed remotely. It’s a pretty powerful structure.
In the coming week(s), I’ll take a look at a number of webtop-like applications, as well as some of the things that are powering them.
