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.
While I find that the combination of various extensions and plug-ins to a web browser plus a personalised Netvibes page is massively useful and time saving, I still use an IM client to communicate with friends and colleagues in real time. There are some conversations that are quick enough not to need an email, and don’t need to be indexed by on my social networking space. But what if there was a way to combine IM, email and social networks within one client?
Over the last couple of weeks I’ve been using digsby, an application which combines these three things through one interface so that you can connect with people regardless of the medium they’re using. Logging into one client switches on all your social network profiles and activities, alerts you of all your email accounts and lets you chat with your IM contacts from a variety of accounts.
Similarly, I’ve also be trying out two other pieces of software – twhirl, a desktop client for twitter, based on the Adobe AIR platform which automatically fetches friends’ updates, as well as replies and direct messages, and rolls them into one timeline regardless of how they’re twittering; and social.im, a Facebook IM client. Unfortunately, this suffers from the fact that to chat with your facebook friends, they have to download the software too – and not many of mine have done so yet.
However, this does point to an important theme for the web. Client software isn’t dead, but it needs to be clever to survive. For example, both digsby and social.im have online widgets that can be added to a webpage meaning that they have a presence both in the browser and on the desktop, covering all bases. Now, if only digsby had an RSS reader…
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. 
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