It started somewhere in the (very) late ’90, faded away in shame for a while after the Big Burst and, what do you know, it came back with a good dose of supervitamin A(jax) and superminerals provided by the advent of Web 2.0: The Web will make the Desktop a thing of the past. Again.

Now, I know I’m not touching a super hot issue here, but since I only ever read about it from known and sometimes even respected Web 2.0 developers/companies who have, naturally enough, an extremely biased view on the matter, I decided to approach it form the other side: The view of an anonymous Windows and Web developer who disagrees with them.

(Side Note: no Web 2.0 developers, respected or otherwise will be (really) damaged during this rant.)

First off, I don’t even know why such a debate should ever even arise. Twice. I don’t know what it is with the Web and internet, but It seems as though every new thing, every step forward, triggers some as of yet undiscovered testosterone reservoir in tech journalists’ brains that makes them claim that this time hell will really break loose, the end of the world as we know it! And god forbid you miss that train because it is the last one!

“Now departing: Last train out of Stoneageville! Last train! LAST train! Will you just hop in?!?”

What I consistently fail to understand is this need to confront these two environments that for all I know coexist in perfect harmony when left be.
Of course, there are some people out there, by which I mean Google, who would just totally love it if the Desktop, by which I mean Microsoft, would disappear. Mind you, that might be what drove them to revolutionise the web landscape with Google Maps in the first place.

Google Engineer #1: I know! Let’s get rid of Microsoft! And Apple! And Linux! Let’s get Rid Of The Desktop!
Google Engineer #2: Cool! But… er… how are we actually going to develop anything after that?
GE #1: Oh, don’t worry; we’re halfway through Google OS. Beta.
GE #2: What about BeOS?
GE #1: Shut up.

So, for the big one: Will the Web, the thin client, make the thick client a thing of the past? I think that’s a right pile of bullshit. Period.

Don’t get me wrong here, I am, by no means, criticising Web applications. I think there’s a bunch of really cool web apps out there, and many kudos to 37Signals, Gmail, Digg, Litmus (formerly SiteVista), and many others I’m forgetting, I just think people need to get a grip because some things are plain far fetched.

Someone, somewhere, even theorised (or proposed?) that the future operating systems would shrink immensely and become just a platform for running our highly evolved, super capable web browsers. Puh-lease! I think someone should try and leave his web browser alone from time to time.
And why is it always the “web” side of the story that has murderous thoughts about its fatter relative and not the other way around? For all I know the Desktop has always embraced the web; recognised the potential of cooperation. Per la Familgia.

I understand the underlying thought, that the new web applications help build an ever connected world where you data is accessible from anywhere, at any moment, by any Google employee.
But to say we’ll be going back to thin clients, back to terminal era...

- But why would you need anything else if your browser can provide everything you need and your data is stored in servers that are permanently available to you from anywhere?
- And what about confidential data? Stuff you’d rather keep an eye on at all times?
- Well, you could always save it on your Hard Drive, I suppose…
- On what file system?
- Er…

And that might be quite a simplistic rebate, I know, but so is their theory.
What seems obvious to me is that both environments, both worlds complement each other and are meant to share some space in our digital lives. Deal with it.