Great X-pectations: Executable, extended—new Internet paradigm could change the user experience and connect us with the real world - Business of Technology - Industry Overview

Computer Technology Review, Feb, 2003 by Naresh Lakhanpal

When Carl Howe, principal analyst at Forrester Research, issued his report on the X-Internet just over a year ago that proclaimed the Web was fading fast, he had some experts virtually foaming at the mouth. Critics dismissed the idea as nothing more than a buzzword, saying that with the Web in a constant state of evolution, it was foolish to announce the end of one era and the beginning of another.

But a number of startups and some very high-profile old timers, such as Apple and Sun Microsystems, have taken the concept seriously. One year later, there are some intriguing developments that may just bring us closer to an Internet that enables greater interactivity with less hassle, on devices that go far beyond the desktop PC or even consumer handhelds.

"What the Web did was make us very tolerant of bad user interactions," said Howe. "We got used to things that take 10 to 15 minutes to respond. Basically, it made people wait for all the things they want to do on the Net. And weren't these machines supposed to make us more efficient? The Web is great for things you read, but if I'm actually trying to do a transaction or have a media experience, it's dreadful."

The real key to this X-Internet concept, he emphasized, "is to eliminate the world wide wait."

What constitutes X-Internet? On the one hand, it's, in Forrester's words, "executable" and about software and user interface. It moves code more efficiently from servers to user PCs and other devices to reduce latency and enhance greater interactivity online. On the other hand, it's "extended" and about hardware--those things, be they refrigerators or assembly lines, that touch the real world.

X-Internet is not to be confused with the Semantic Web, which will give the Web the ability to make logical associations among words and concepts. Although X-Internet and the Semantic Web are being developed on separate tracks, their goals are compatible and will likely converge as research on both fronts advances.

Beyond Dumb Terminals

We all know what it's like to try to execute a transaction online, whether it's buying a book or making an airline reservation--lots of clicks on a series of Web pages that may take ages to download. And if you need to return to a page? Click on back.

It's the dumb terminal syndrome. All the information resides on the server and needs to go back and forth through your Internet connection. Several new companies are in the trenches developing tools to add smarts to your terminal. Altio, for instance, has a platform that delivers rich Internet applications, according to founder and CEO David Levett.

"We basically have created an incredibly powerful network where in theory, anything can be connected to anything else," he said. "We can run applications that look and work like Outlook or Quickbooks, and run very fast. It downloads an application temporarily with just the features you need to accomplish the task. There's no installation required. It may be about 200K or a bit more than one page in terms of downloading, then it can be cached. Everything is instant and the end-user result is that there's much better functionality. You don't have to keep going to the server and back again."

The footprint, said Levitt, is small, using only one-thousandth of the bandwidth that would ordinarily be required because it's encoded in XML and sent across compressed, with only the modules necessary for a given task. "We're doing all the hard work behind the scenes like an operating system, all within code," he said, "So that 200K is doing an awful lot of work."

Curl Corporation, too, is developing a more dynamic approach to executable Internet. John Capobianco, executive vice president of strategic planning, said, "It's not just that I want formatted content; I want data sent to me so I can decide how to use it."

To that end, Curl has created a platform that shifts the emphasis from client/server to what it calls client/Web. According to Capobianco, Curl applications are a set of development tools that combine scripting language, text processing and object-oriented programming. The application code sits at the server side. When the user issues a URL call over the Internet, it goes to the server, which notes the location and sends the Curl application back to the user. This application is compressed and executes quickly. The application, he explains, runs on the client side and every time the user wants additional information, the Curl application requests that the server send the data. "It's a fat client without the fat," said Capobianco.

Then there's Macromedia and its MX line. Says vice president of strategy Peter O'Kelly, "With MX, things are integrated. An MX-enabled site will allow transactions to be performed on one page that is automatically refreshed or updated as the transaction takes place. "Traditionally, you have distinct tools like email. But it's not the way people work or want to work. Our vision with MX was to take the best of Web applications and extend them further by taking advantage of the full capabilities of the devices. We think about the task. The tools should be so natural and integrated that you're not even thinking about them," he explained.