death of the Applications

That was the title for a panel at Office 2.0 in SF yesterday, you'll find it here.

Well, here's my wee little 1-2-3 twist to that issue:

1. Once we invented tools to help us in our tasks; hammers, knives, drills, machinery, cars, typewriters...

2. Then IT created new versions of many tools - the "applications": Word processors, accounting systems, e-mail, spreadsheets, new communication tools, social software...

3. Then somebody says "Hey, IT is about modelling reality, so why don't we model the whole flows instead of only the tasks?". And with that the task-completing-functionality becomes a natural part of something holistic making most stand-alone task tools irrelevant.

So be it, holistic modelling making "applications" redundant.

(And with that the end of middleware, never ending discussions about file standards, SOA and other architectural approaches to the complexity created by the application-jumble.)

Comments

[Dennis Howlett]

I thought that discussion was pretty bland - not sure I learned much there other than one guy pissed off paying extra MSFT taxes.

[sig]

Dennis, and who wouldn't be that? :)

What more should be p***** off on is the self-inflicted corner one paints one self into accepting the jumble of apps resulting in such extra tax to MSFT as well to IBM (Middleware!) and big SIs (more architecture, more middleware, more of everything) and many, many more.

Thing is... apps are reasonably easy to create for anybody with some creativity and coding skills, sheepish VCs still think they rule so much is funded and we're all too happy to try them out so it'll be awhile before they go away entirely ;)