When do we need offline functionality? (Often, for some of us)

21 October 2006 by Rod McLaren

We’re accustomed to increasingly thinking of all desktops and laptops as being always-on, connected by a reliable broadband pipe to the internet. Hence a shift towards save-on-the-network, internet-delivered web apps, and the undeniable benefits such approaches bring.

“The desktop is dead. Welcome to the Internet cloud, where massive facilities across the globe will store all the data you’ll ever use” says Akit Jaokar confidently in Mobile Ajax: The architecture of Mobile Ajax applications.

However, surely it’s a mistake to think that online-delivered data and applications will entirely replace desktop-bound, local, un-connected applications.

Firstly, despite the inroads made by software-as-a-service vendors like Salesforce.com, some organisations may never be entirely comfortable keeping their data in the cloud. They are happily bringing third-party technology in-house, but they’re less comfortable about having their data leave the LAN or WAN (I’m thinking particularly of the many public sector organisations who are very careful with their data and systems of record, even though some of them are outsourcing some of their services). Of course this may change in future, but security concerns remain about storing critical data online

But what if the network isn’t there?

Secondly: the network isn’t always there for all users. The first few scenarios that came to mind: you’re on mobile device and the coverage is temporarily out because you’re on a mountain, inside a building, in a tunnel, on the underground. You’re on a train going under bridges, through tunnels, switching cells fast enough that your connection might as well be down. Or you’re at a conference with a hundred other laptop users, all sipping the internet down the same straw. You’re in an environment that offers no connection at all: some airplanes, many large corporate or public buildings. You’re visiting a company which bathes its office in plentiful wifi, but won’t open it up to visitors like you. You’re on a mobile network that privileges voice over data when traffic is high (they all do). You’re in a hotel whose wifi is just too expensive. Perhaps you don’t want a connection to the outside world – you just want to focus and work. Your computer’s wifi isn’t working for some reason. It’s broken, or you switched it off to conserve battery.

Phil Wainewright asks the right question: why should a network outage stop me from getting on with my own individual tasks and projects?

So, for some users and requirements, intermittent access to their data and apps may not be a problem. But the others may need a hybrid model: work online if the connection is there, and keep working (offline) whilst the connection isn’t.

Over the next few weeks we’ll explore some design patterns for extremely limited, sporadic or absent bandwidth, particularly in the mobile space.

(Commercial plug: Mobbu provides mobile applications and services that work both online and offline. To discuss: email us at hello@mobbu.com or call Alex Laurie on +44 (0)797 643 6630. )

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