Stupid Web Apps

Richard Stallman has denounced cloud computing and web applications as a whole. "It's stupidity. It's worse than stupidity: it's a marketing hype campaign". He has come out rather strongly about these budding technologies that many think could be the next big thing in computing. So, why are they thought to be so good and is Stallman right in saying that they are stupid?

Apple made its foray recently in to cloud computing, and made the term famous with MobileMe. Update a contact or make a new appointment on the go with your iPhone, and the details are updated within seconds to your desktop and laptops at home and work. You accept an invitation for a meeting at work, and it is automatically updated on your phone, so you will be reminded wherever you are, not just when at the desk. Pretty powerful stuff.

Popular e-mail applications, blogging softwares, productivity programs like Google spreadsheets are all examples of web applications. There are some great advantages to web apps over its desktop counterpart.

• There is no need to install web applications on every computer you need to run it on. Its distributed over the network, and they are available out of the box.
• You create a presentation, save it on your desktop and forget to copy into a flash drive. Every body has these stories. No such problems with web apps. Point to the same URL and you have the file anywhere in the world, as long as you have an internet connection.
  
• Upgrades and bug fixes are much easier to distribute. No need to install in every computer around. Upgrade it in the server, and the next time the users open the site, they find the changes. This in turn cuts costs for the service providers and so prices for customers are much cheaper. Many web apps to this date are free.

These are just a few of the advantages. So, why is Stallman being so negative about these technologies? His argument is that, by storing our data with these companies, we are losing control over our data, and so we need to stop using them.

There is no doubt that we are giving considerable control of our data to these companies, when we store data with them. But in my opinion not using web apps is as much a solution to this problem as stop eating due to the increasing costs of food (I think I took it too far too) !

If we take some precautions, in my opinion we can save ourselves from this loss of control while also enjoying the advantages these technologies provide.

• Use a software like Mail or Outlook. Get it configured with all your mail even if you never use it, and do not forget to have it started when the computer starts. In case you lose your mail account (this happens far more often than we realize), you have all the mails on your computer. You still need to let all your friends about your new mail address, but at least the glass is half full.
• The fact that documents have been saved in Google Docs is not sufficient. Make frequent backups. The frequency depends on the importance of the documents you have stored there of course.
• Try to use blog platforms that provide the option of automatic backups, and if possible exporting in XML format, so it is easy to import the complete blog into a new platform. Wordpress does a great job of it. Have a look at this if you are looking for this plugin. I cannot find a feature that can export my blog in blogger. Can somebody please let me know how I can do this, if possible at all. Here is the second best solution.

Some people have far too sensitive data and would have to take extraordinary measures to protect them. For the rest of us, I think the web is still a relatively safe enviroment. But, I think realization that these services are provided free (in most cases), and not to be taken for granted can go a long way.

I am sure there are tons of such small techniques that can be used to ensure that our web experience is safe. Do share them in the comments section if you can think of some!