Pride of place on a computer screen has changed significantly over the years. Ever since Windows followed Mac’s 1984 shift from a text-based to a graphical user interface, there has been a constant shift in where our attention lies and, as a result, where software brands wanted their icons to be located – from the desktop, to the Start menu, to the taskbar. Finally, as walled-garden internet applications like AOL’s late 90’s interface fell foul of usability and “lock-in” issues, and more people began opting in favour of web-based email, it was the browser that took its spot as the first port of call for PC users.
The browser’s dominance
With little room for customisation in early versions of Internet Explorer, portals like Yahoo! and Lycos vied for consumers’ attention and the coveted position of being your homepage. Toolbar plug-ins from the likes of Google provided easy access to p
opular functions like search and “autofill” for forms. As a natural progression, customisable homepages such as iGoogle and Netvibes have allowed web users to tailor content according to their interests and needs, cementing the position of the browser as the #1 application on the desktop. This developement allowed media and brands to gain a position on user’s hompages by developing gadgets such as Shiny Red client Yell’s iGoogle search box.
Client software – the fallen and the survivors
The majority of popular client software has been under two loose banners – communication and entertainment. Entertainment in the form of applications such as WinAmp, music subscription software Rhapsody, and internet TV pioneer Joost. The browser world responded with an increase of hugely popular streaming sites like Pandora and YouTube, leading to Rhapsody going web-based, and Joost still struggling to hit the mainstream heights achieved by YouTube. Meanwhile, communication has grown from the early days of ICQ and AOL Instant Messager (AIM) to include GoogleTalk, MSN, and Skype among others. Against the major trends, communication and instant messaging in particular has looked to be the client-software “survivor” in the face of the browser’s onslaught.
Browsers get personal
Internet Explorer’s most recent competition has come in the form of more Open Source browser software such as Firefox and “social browser” Flock. With the around 2,300 Firefox add-ons known as “extensions” ranging from ad-blocking and RSS reading to social bookmarking, users can build a whole broswer around their way of browsing the web. And for fans of social media, the Flock browser allows you to be connected to a whole host of blogging, social networking and media sharing tools such as Facebook, Youtube, Flickr, Twitter and Del.icio.us at all times while you’re using the browser, essentially turning it into a one stop shop for all your communication and entertainment needs.
Facebook and the client software fightback
Last year’s phenomenal explosion of social networking activity threatened to undermine the presence of client software even further, with Facebook wall posts and Twitter replies taking on IM to become the dominant means of near real-time communication. We were only too happy to live in our browsers and rely on the web for providing all the applications we would ever need. But software providers are hitting back in 2008 with a Ryu-style hadouken…
[...] In my previous post on this subject, I made the point that the web browser has become the dominant piece of software on the PC. Web applications have begun to replace desktop functions like email, calendars, and start-ups like Zoho are even bringing traditional office software to the web. However, in spite of the trend of software migrating to the browser, there’s a counter movement of the web migrating to the desktop. [...]
[...] mentioned the client vs. browser battle before on the blog, and one of the things we’re keen to see in action is Seesmic [...]