Isto está a aquecer e a ficar mesmo interessante.... O
TechCrunch mostra como a norueguesa Opera lançou uma campanha que parece ser um ataque directo ao Google Wave. Chama-se Opera Unite e pretende libertar as pessoas da
evil cloud. O diagrama e o vídeo são suficientemente esclarecedores para irmos buscar um balde de pipocas.
Aqui no Tecnologa somos defensores da liberdade e da privacidade e apesar de ficarmos de boca aberta com o Wave, dar poder ao utilizador individual, que pode ter os seus dados e serviços web no seu computador e telemóvel, parece-nos muito mais lógico do que oferecer a dama ao
evil maharaja. Eles andam aí atrás do nosso cérebro! É impressionante como a esmagadora maioria de utilizadores dá de mão beijada a sua informação às multinacionais, numa cultura de ingenuidade nunca vista...
EDIT:Depois do post fui experimentar um pouco o Opera Unite na sua fase alpha... e a reacção, pelo menos por agora, foi muito diferente da euforia inicial. Aliás, mereceu um comentário duro no fórum oficial, que reproduzo a seguir:
Opera Unite scares me, needs radical change
I just had a glance at Opera Unite and I know it's in alpha state and my opinion is not yet well founded. Also, I'll check in detail the API, so I'll just express my first reaction now, subject to change as Opera Unite evolves.
I'm promoting Opera Unite to everyone I know, talking to my students, sending emails about it, posting to my blog, etc., because I subscribe entirely to the theory behind this project.
But I'm sorry to say this: until now the implementation is scaring... Why should we place "photos", "media", "files" (???)... all in separate places? Better said, why should I care about organising files? Shouldn't this be a platform based on communication+context instead of files scattered across "shared folders"? Are the end users - those people who use Opera and want to be free from the Cloud - supposed to code HTML and Javascript and provide "nicknames" to enter a "chatroom" ??
Listen, you may not believe, but in the year 2009 a HUGE number of people don't even know how to locate a file in their own PC nor opening an MSN or Gmail account. Many, many people don't know how to fill a captcha - that's the real world I face everyday and the opportunity is there.
Maybe I'm wrong and Opera Unite will be growing to something spectacular and the API is good, but all of this seems so old school to me, i.e. collaboration zero. People just don't do things this way, and they don't even know what a web server is nor how to operate it.
I think what people need is real time services to "Unite" email, IM, social networks, word processing, database editing, etc. in a modern, simple, intuitive and decentralized platform to simplify collaboration and information sharing, including local area network environments (e.g. to stop spreading outdated email copies and outdated files to other team members or friends, and stopping the ridiculous act of sending emails via the Internet to the receiver who's in the next room).
You know what I'm really talking about, don't you? Yes, Google Wave. They've got it, not perfectly but almost.
Taking this idea of using phones and end-user PC's to deliver web services is OK and i'ts the right time to do it (here in Portugal, optical fiber is soon reaching every home and office - so we have enough bandwidth for that), but you've got to focus in solving real user problems, not just reconstructing broken models from the 90's just to maintain a happy technical community.
Also, Opera Unite needs to overcome the fact that the service requires the user's PC to be switched on 24x7, although not a main issue as PC's are becoming energy-efficient and silent.
So maybe I got the wrong idea after seeing Opera's great presentation video but, as I said, these are just initial thoughts that I wanted to share with you all.
I hope this helps. Take care.
