Vision: Web-centric Computation

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Vision Web-centric Computation

• Todays Web a popular computer application ...
  along with desktop publishing, graphics,
  spreadsheets, databases, CAD, ...
• Tomorrows Web a uniform medium for access to
  services...
• ...including desktop publishing, graphics,
  spreadsheets, databases, CAD, ...

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Web-centric PC...
Steves Startup Page Miscellaneous My stock
portfolio Munich Trip Textbook Im writing
Logic simulations CURL hacking Tax
Reporting Photography
Talks
Books
CURL Paper
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Technology barriers
- Interaction barriers - Skill barriers
Function
C, ActiveX,...
JAVA
Programs
Text, Pictures
Applets
TCL, JavaScript
Evolution involves hill climbing along this
curve Discontinuities discourage it!
Scripts
HTML
Sophistication
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Alternative The Gentle Slope...Evolutionary
path for accessible tools
CURL (MIT LCS) single language supporting
HTML-like formatted hypertext Author/programmer
semantic continuum Efficient, native-compiled
mobile code Mobile, extensible type system for
metadata
Function
Sophistication
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Web-centric user view

• Web Interaction Model replaces
• Software installation (dynamically imported)
• Applications
• File system interaction (transparent caches)
• Local/Remote distinctions
• Manuals/documentation
• Windows 95!

Config.sys. Install/Uninstall. FAT filesys.
Remote mounts. Software updates. Registry.
...
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Obstacles Issues

• 1. Technical can a coherent web environment
  support authors, programmers, developers?
• 2. Business do industrial interests promote
  web-centric evolution?
• 3. Economic Can current economic models survive
  the communication revolution?

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Partitioned Community...
Developers
Bill Jim
Programmers
Many of US.
Authors
People who actually have something to say.
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Technology Pressures

• New Communication level driving forces
• Function assimilation of applications
• Automatization of content consumption
• Semantic coherence
• consistent language interface over
  content/scripting/programming communities
• Groupware cooperative environments
• Promising approaches
• Metadata? Objects?
• Code mobility security, transparency
• What will emerge as the Lingua Franca of the web?

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Structured, interactive documents...
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Automatization Content Extraction
Today Sophisticated Curl user Builds
get-quote primitive which automates consumption
of some particular web content Might use
extract-html, provided by an even more
sophisticated user
define get-quote namesymbolfloat
extract-html xfloat get-url append
www.quote.com/qs/SYM name table
... table ... row Last x ... ...
...
Eventually server provides typed CURL stock
object
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An integrated, coherent web...
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Alternative The Gentle Slope...Evolutionary
path for accessible tools
CURL a single language supporting HTML-like
formatted hypertext Author/programmer semantic
continuum Efficient, native-compiled mobile
code Mobile, extensible type system for metadata
Function
Sophistication
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CURL A Gentle-Slope Language for the
WebEvolutionary path for accessible tools
Steve Ward David Kranz MIT Lab for Computer
Science HTML-like formatted hypertext
Author/programmer semantic continuum Efficient,
native-compiled mobile code Mobile, extensible
type system for metadata
Function
Sophistication