That perennial topic is back, this time raised by Tara. It used to be the thick client/ thin client debate. In any event it its worth examining, because it has implications for how we design online banking over the next 5 years. It is a safe bet that it won’t remain the way we see it today. But first the browser debate.

::HorsePigCow:: life uncommon: R.I.P. Browsers

But, after spending some intensive time with Chris, our clients and really starting to think about it, I feel more and more that someday – and it may be sooner than we think – there won’t be browsers at all. Not that they will look different…we just won’t use them.

So lets examine why we like browsers.

1. Convenience: open one application, and the world is your oyster. Layer in a simple home page, such as google.com/ig and a few buttons (gmail, de.licio.us, performancing for blogging, MyInfor for Outliner, Google Autofill) you are off to the races.
2. Speed: with 2 – 3 megabit connections the norm now, browers react faster than tradtional office aplications
3. Simplicity: point and click … a common paradigm for usage. No learning curve.
4. Security: https, and network storage, mean I don’t have to worry about hard drive crashes, or virus problems.

So then I thought about how I differentiate in use between local apps, and browser apps.

Browser apps:

• blogging
• banking
• research
• news
• discussion

Local apps:

• reading RSS feeds
• work things – presentations, spreadsheets
• outliner – thinking, preparation, planning, GTD
• news alerts- BBC & CNN

What is interesting is that browser apps, are my preference, and I only resort to the local ones, when I have no choice. Work things need to be compatible so no point in taking chances with empressr when I know I have to send the file to others that are on Office too. But wait … empressr has built in sharing … hmmm. So the issue then is my companys standard, which forces me to email the file, rather than have them pick up through a shared link.

Similarly my outliner. I happen to use MyInfo, and if there was a browser version I would likely use it. But probably better would be that I could have it syncronise online, so that I could pick it up anywere. I would also like to share parts of that outliner with my team too … oops, that sounds like 37 signals model now!
So on balance, I gravitate to the online apps first for the benefits above, and resort to local ones when I have no choice, and that choice is driven by the way things were, driving corporate standards.
Tara may be right, local apps may make a resurgence, but they will need certain characteristics before that happens.

• small footprint – fast to load
• online sync and sharing
• stable, secure, trusted
• Open enough that I can use the one of my preference, and still interact with whomever I choose. Will Microsoft Groove Office 200X do that?

The last think/ thin client debate was in the late 90’s when Microsoft spoke of the end of browsers, and how Windows would become the interface to everything. Since then, precisely the opposite has happened, and browsers have become king.

However, there is still something here. In a world where laptops and memory sticks are becoming the norm, the notion of carrying your own data around isn’t so far fetched, compared to when you looked at that bulky thing under your desk, at work, and another at home. One thing about technology change, and certainly internet, is that its never linear, and the directions will be set by the like of Chris, and his friends who can throw things together in ridiculously short times. Even though the likes of 37 Signals are terrible at user design, their model is one that is industry changing. Then you have Ray Ozzies speech that I reviewed here, postively I might add, without realising this debate was back.

extract from Ozzie speech:

Our world has evolved into one with amazingly powerful “edge” devices, amazingly powerful centralized services, and high-bandwidth pipes connecting the two. And so rather than having to have a limited client and needing to put all the intelligence onto the service, we can for the first time consider how to intentionally balance where to put the application, where to put the data, and how rich to make the user experience based on factors such as mobility or the nature of the device, the nature of the Internet connection to that device and so on.

Going back to online banking, all of this suggests to me that it will become more componentised, with some parts, at your discretion, available via phone broswer, some parts inside your 37 Signals Basecamp, some parts in a broswer, and all of it available either on your hard drive app, or in the browser version. Some of this wil be driven by security models, and part by convenience, and simplicity. High bandwidth, and smart coders mean that speed should be irrelevant, and available in either event, so its the other three factors (convenience, simplicity, security) that will drive it. Then there is price will also factor in too.
Relevance to Bankwatch:

Microsoft will gravitate towards thick clients, because that is how they make their money. Customers will gravitate towards what they like. We just need to watch the debate, and watch the customers, and probably most important, watch for the breakthroughs.

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