Mozilla's Weave: (Too far) Ahead of its time
Mozilla just released Weave Sync 0.4.0, but the reality is that it will take a long time before we need a 1.0 of Weave. Weave Sync coordinates your Firefox bookmarks, browser history, saved passwords, and tabs across your various Firefox installations: desktop, laptop, Netbook, and mobile.
The problem with this vision is that today it's largely unnecessary. For a variety of reasons (some very good, some not so good), Mozilla's mobile Firefox--codenamed "Fennec"--runs on Windows Mobile (version 6 and up) devices...and that's it.
While some new moves from Google may see Fennec port its way to the Android platform, this is a drop in the global browsing bucket, and doesn't even address the fact that there are other mobile browsers with much more momentum, as ReadWriteWeb notes.
Compounding this problem, it's unclear that most people want to sync between different computing devices. More and more people have gravitated to laptops or other mobile computing devices, using these as their primary computing device, rather than as an adjunct, under-powered alternative when away from the desktop.
Personally, I can even remember the last time that I thought about using a desktop computer.
Yes, I have four Macs sitting around the house, but each one is tied to a different family member. I don't really want my son's Webkinz bookmark on my Firefox browser any more than my wife wants to look past my NewsNow Arsenal news feed.
In short, Weave seems to be solving a difficult, but not important, problem. At least, not as currently envisaged.
I'd find Weave far more compelling if it acted as a Web service that let me take my full Firefox experience with me to devices that I don't own. For example, I occasionally find myself using the desktop computers in a hotel lobby, and would love a secure way to log in, claim that browsing experience as my own, and have all traces of myself obliterated for the next patron.
That would be a useful way to "Weave" together my different Firefox sessions: between computers I own and don't own, rather than just between computers I own.
How about it, Mozilla?
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Matt Asay brings a decade of in-the-trenches open-source business and legal experience to The Open Road, with an emphasis on emerging open-source business strategies and opportunities. Matt is vice president of business development at Alfresco, a company that develops open-source software for content management. He is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure. You can follow Matt on Twitter @mjasay. 
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The idea of Weave and what it might become in the future is great for someone like me. the ONLY real issue I have Weave for now (even though I dont use it) is that I haven't heard anything about Syncing separate profiles. While the idea of having one browser experience across different platforms is great, I dont want to share my "home" browsing experience with my "work" browsing experience...
And oh, desktops are great (if you dont need mobility that is). I work in computer sales, and i find it funny how customers come in wanting a laptop just because its what they think is "cool" but once they start adding on accessories they've basically built a desktop.
Also, is it just me or does that logo look really familiar?
Netscape 4 had this feature (aka roaming profiles). I have 4 computers I need to sync bookmarks between (my Mac Pro at home, MacBook Air on the road, and 2 PCs at work). If you can live within the strictures of a laptop (or in fact a single computer), more power to you, but don't think you are the universal rule. With Firefox 2, I used CVS to sync my bookmarks, but that broke with the new SQLite-based bookmark system in FF3, and I have been waiting for Weave to go live since then.
Weave, when it runs right, is fantastic - it may be superfluous for another reason - Xmarks is quickly doing everything it will do - the one thing XMarks does not do is browsing history.
Fatal flaw in what you're asking for: you're trusting that a public machine will do what you ask. Some malicious cybercafe owner (or someone using said box before you) can already add keyloggers to their machines, making sure they have a record of what you type. From there, it's not far to have the machine say "Sure, all traces are obliterated" -- and lie like a politician. Even if an app is coded well, the underlying systems could say "sure, I've deleted XYZ." But not do that. (Or, copy all data written to HD to a second place, so that the first can be deleted -- and proven deleted -- while apps don't know about the second copy.)
Bottom line: don't count on the ability to trust any and every computer in the world.
you dont need it, fine, good for you. Im not sure why your specific circumstances should make for an article focus on all the reasons that YOU don't need this product.
I'm not sure what I expected from this article, but I would have like a little more information on the product itself.
Nopes, its way behind Opera Sync
I find it funny when all these browsers copy something from Opera and rest of the world shouts it as the next biggest innovation.
Before people claim the next big innovation on browser, Opera already has an inbuilt email software (forget outlook), Chat (forget mirc), speed dial (now on most browsers), session management (still to come on most browsers), mouse gestures (you don't know how fast it can make you work), a way way better user/password/profile management (forget robotask), pause/resume/restart type inbuild transfer (yes firefox got it now but its still in an annoying popup), skins, styles.. damm way too many things.
And did I mentioned speed to browse and load? Its sleek..
Why ain't it the most popular one then:
Its not open source, so linux guys and media never appreciated it
Its not big a company as google, so they dont get as much free media and free advertising
Its not Microsoft, so they can't give it preinstalled on windows.
It ain't apple either..
Most developers don't test on it either..
But these guys are the ones doing the work for which others are getting the credit..
OPERA 10 beta rules
http://www.opera.com/browser/next/
People should evolve to OPERA,
NOW try OPERA 10 UNITE
http://unite.opera.com/
BTW, for you opera fans, that's great, but isn't Mozilla just copying Foxmarks too? What's the difference? Browsers copy features all the time. Anyhow, I prefer firefox to opera.
You probably meant "can't" but that's nit-picking. The point is your lack of a need for a desktop is most definitely not the norm. I suspect many people will find use with Weave just as many use Xmarks today and this article would have benefited from a wider point of view.
The concept of synching as a web service had me intrigued however. If something like that could work across browsers from different vendors that would be quite the ground breaker, privacy concerns aside.
No its Personally, I CAN'T even remember the last time that I thought about using a desktop computer.
- by gpfontaine July 2, 2009 4:30 AM PDT
- Matt Asay,
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Showing 1 of 2 pages (25 Comments)While it is true that laptops are starting to dominate the market, it doesn't mean that everyone has one or that everyone has only one. Why would you even write something so short-sided?
Did you even consider that many people have a computer at work and a computer at home, or video games run better on desktop PCs?