Comments on: Google plugs PC power into cloud computing

First with Native Client, and now with O3D, Google releases software to let Web-based apps tap into local computers' power.

[zvonr]

you're better off using Java...

you want to see how applets with 3D work, check nasa's version of google earth:

http://worldwind.arc.nasa.gov/java/demos/index_applet_text_and_links.html

you want to see how quake written in java runs?: http://www.bytonic.de/html/jake2_webstart.html

Java is very easy to develop for, with security built in, runs on most hardware platforms and is production ready today...

[Random_Walk]

Nice! The Q2 demo made my memory water (though to be fair, it didn't work so hot with the mouse, but I only tested it briefly, and not tried rigging the mouse).

[ctbcctbc]

with Java???? You're going to take a hit in performance simply due to the IL. I don't see how performance could match a native client..

[dominicsotirescu]

Seaborn obviously has no clue what Javascript stands for: it is by far the most advanced general purpose programing language that happens to reside inside the browser. Running full 3D rendering engines in Javascript is probably a stretch, but why not help javascript with a simple well designed plugin to tap into the power of latest GPUs.

[inachu1]

I would like to see a customers/home version of cloud computing.
Instead of using remote tools to get to your pc at home just run a secure OS cloud that runs all your apps through a web browser. This way I can use Microsoft Word on my iphone or any computer with a web browser. Would be nice then I could open Netobjects web builder app in my iphone and really get geeky with it.

Sad to think that Quake 3 or World of Warcraft would still not work with cloud computing but maybe one day.

[JNHora]

This is as old as Java and ActiveX. The same problems remain, although perhaps the hosting capabilities and security features are different. Still, the holy grail of using client-side/hosted code for power to beef up cloud/web apps is evolving....good to see no one has given up on it.

[Len Bullard]

If you want all standards to be de facto, in essence, just a product from a company that decided it has the power or arrogance to label their experimentation as "standard", then there is very little reason to believe the web will evolve coherently.

If this is how Google approaches their development, then they are becoming an anti-web company, corrosive of the values that made the web work and Google wealthy.

If this is simply a handful of Google developers talking about their work, then the Google press team needs to think long and hard about their use of these terms and tactics. We have to watch this intently. The implications of the releases from companies of this side that they are initiating industry standards without real industry consensus and cooperation are profoundly bad for the web.

[Random_Walk]

...not to pop your balloon, but Java (and JavaScript) is open-source - if you want to change it, you can (yes, even you).

Now let's contrast this to, oh, I dunno... *.doc format, shall we? Or DirectX, perhaps? Silverlight? Okay, how about Flash? *.mdb (which Exchange relies on to store mail)? I could list them all day long if you like...

[netwoobie]

I like the idea of all these vendors with solutions for utilizing the CPU and GPU from browser based software, but until it is packaged easily for end users, there is no way it will become mainstream. I can see implenting that sort of thing within a business application, as IT staff can distribute the client tools needed, but as someone who works in IT both in business and with home users, there is no way the majority of home users would be able to setup their pc on their own. It needs to be a one click configuration with little security configuration on their part before that becomes accepted.

Security will be the biggest concern as Vista already proved with the constant nagging for assurance that you really wanted to click ok. If this technology uses a security model that requires a pat on the back for every action the user takes, it will never get high marks.

[Mergatroid Mania]

So, what's the point of Cloud Computing again? If it's so feeble, why not just purchase apps and games and run them right on your desktop?
Oh ya, we've been doing that for 30 years.
Giving browsers access to better graphics is fine. About time actually. But if applications "in the cloud" are suffering from lack of cpu power, then what's the point? Better off to do the work with a local app, and maybe store your data off site (or at least back it up off site).

[Cyril Demaria]

Exactly... Instead of reinventing the wheel, why not focus on useful things for the end user? I think about macros for spreadsheets which are accessible for non VB experts, automatic indexing for wordprocessors, fully customizable graphics for spreadsheets,... The list is long.

[frobots]

The difference is that the browser is becoming the universal platform for delivering apps. Games and other apps would be OS independent. The same apps would run on Macs, PCs, Linux, etc.

[CydeSwype]

NaCl? Isn't that the chemical composition for salt?

[arcanus2]

Yes, yes, so future browsers had to cope up with this, too: death to the Internet Explorer is, as I forecast, coming soon enough, as more and more people recognize that it's the slowest in running Javascript...

Chrome will, as it matures, rule some section of the industry, but as Firefox is less and less bloated, it will also have its place.

It's my predictions, anyway. And yes, NaCl is the chemical composition for salt.

[FutureGuy]

I can't wait to have to download 13GB to play WoW using Google's awesome native client and O3D just so I don't have to install it directly on my machine.