All signs point to Smart Client

One of the things that truly fascinates me is how independently developed technologies converge to make things possible that the inventors of the discrete pieces never imagined. In fact, Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) is counting on this phenomena for success. Focus on the building blocks, and people will plug them together in clever ways that you never thought of. Smart Client is the same thing. Oh sure, it's a snazzy marketing term, but maybe, just maybe, Smart Client means something much more.

Over on the Smart Client Developer Center, Jonathan Wells and Chris Sells have "defined" what it means to be a smart client. The list includes:

• Local resources and user experience
• Connected
• Offline capable
• Intelligent deployment and update

When I think of Smart Client...

To me, Smart Client just means software catching up to the fact that the world has changed. Independently developed technologies are converging, and Smart Client is the logical result.

• Mobility - Laptops are outselling Desktops. Microsoft decided, for some reason, that now was the time to invest massively in a more mobile platform. Even if you discount the Tablet, you can't argue that users are becoming more mobile, and being tethered to a desk will be less and less common.
• Connectivity - The number of hot spots is literally exploding. Lots of companies with ethernet taps everywhere have also blanketed their buildings with Wi-Fi. Things like SmartPhone and BlackBerry let you connect any time you're in cell range. The point is, you're never far from a network. Future technologies will only make The Net more ubiquitous.
• Communications - Talking to the other end is a lot simpler than it used to be. For one, there just happens to be this world wide network available (anyone remember leased lines?). Also, you don't have to be a sockets programmer to send a little data. Web Services (the logical output of a number of other converging technologies) make "network programming" really easy. BizTalk, MSMQ, and SQL Replication can also take the burden off the developer when pushing bits.
• Deployment - I love the fact that more and more applications are saying "Hey, there's a new me. Would you like it?", and the update just downloads and installs. In fact, I'm starting to get annoyed when there's a new version of an app, and no one told me.

Back to the future...

Don't get me wrong, I don't think the days of Web sites are numbered, but I do have to question the wisdom of building full "Web Applications" for all the reasons of the past. If you need 100% reach, fine, but otherwise, what do you get from building a Web app that Smart Client doesn't deliver for less effort? In fact, in a world of "occasionally connectivity", Smart Client has one killer feature - offline operation.

ClickOnce will further simplify the process of keeping the client updated with the latest bits.

Finally, Longhorn is coming, and something tells me that Microsoft is going to start spreading all kinds of client side love (If the OS is nothing more than a substrate for a browser, then who cares which one you're running).

How high Smart Client climbs remains to be seen, but many technologies are emerging and converging to give it a big boost.