The Future of the Desktop

ReadWriteWb has published and interesting article about the future of the Desktop computer.

As we dive into the third decade of the Web we see the gradual replacement of native desktop applications with Web-hosted clones that run in browsers. A range of products such as Microsoft Office Live, Google Docs, Zoho, ThinkFree, DabbleDB, Basecamp, and others now offer Web-based versions to the full range of familiar desktop office productivity applications. Also, hosted remote storage for individuals and enterprises of all sizes is now widely available and inexpensive. As these trends continue, what will happen to the desktop computer?

Imitation of the desktop has been a goal that did not return favorable results - working with a files-and-folders interface on the web proved to be a slow process. The desktop of the future is going to be a hosted web service.

The organization of the information on the desktop will take on a new form. Instead of files and folders, there will be temporary organization (feeds, lifestreams, microblogs, timelines, and more) that are not restricted to one physical device. It will become a tool for organizing all the information available in a different way. The priority of this new technology will be to help us manage attention and give way to collective intelligence (interactive shared spaces that replace folders) and powerful semantic searching. The smart desktop will intuitively organize information based on your location and surrounding circumstances - it will be able to learn about you personally and help you be more productive.

The desktop computer will probably become a figurative part of speech as its contents move on to web-based space that is available through mobile carriers, where the information will be synched automatically.