My Uninstalled Life is one of those sites I randomly came across while navigating the net. The blog is a chronicle of how to operate a PC without having any locally installed applications and instead, relying completely on web based apps or “CloudWare“.
One thing I’ve noticed during my 10 computeryears is that I have many tools, applications and files that I need daily. But there’s a catch, most of the stuff I use is installed on my desktop. So if I’m not infront of my computer – I’m out of luck. Not very effective right? Not to mention if the whole computer crashes.
My Uninstalled Life was started back in August of 2006. At that time, the Web 2.0 bandwagon was just beginning to pick up steam and within one year, were almost at the point of being able to live an UNINSTALLED Life. The best example I can think of right now which really illustrates this concept is the $199 Everex TC2502. The PC is currently being sold at WalMart and is running Linux GOS. A variant of the popular Ubuntu but with lots of optimization for Google products. The desktop is literally filled with links to online Google services such as Google Docs, Google Maps, and GMail. The machine does come installed with OpenOffice but you could always UNINSTALL it in favor of GDocs.
The author behind the Uninstalled Life blog does have his own thoughts in regards to what Web 2.0 is:
As I see it, it’s the second generation of the web. It should give you an experience close to what locally installed desktop applications would give you. I wouldn’t say we’re at 2.0 yet.. maybe 1.5? Before we’re at 2.0 the applications on the web should be…
* As fast
* As many features
* As easy accessiable (just doubleclick that icon…)
* Free! (I know this rules out a bunch of alternatives.. but I like free stuff)As long as the “web 2.0″ applications or “webapplications” are not there, we’re not at 2.0, if you ask me.
Wouldn’t it be great to simply not need a desktop PC at your home? Just some small appliance with a webbrowser and an Internet Connection? That’s all I want!
I think it’s safe to say that if you really didn’t want a desktop PC at your home, you could purchase a high storage USB thumbdrive, throw on a copy of PORTABLE APPS, and now, all you need is a PC with a free USB port and a network card and you should be all set. The PORTABLE APPS could be those that you need which you wouldn’t want to be replaced by an online variant. Everything else could be accessed over the web. In essence, your desktop PC would now reside in a USB drive.
One has to question the practicality behind this method, but I find it fascinating that the PC could theoretically be contained within a USB thumbdrive.
To get back on topic, the My Uninstalled Life website has a series of blog posts which tell the story of how to replace local apps with web based applications and I recommend it to anyone who is trying to accomplish the same goal. Although I’m not sure if the blog author is actively pursuing his goal anymore since the last post on the blog is from July 30th of 07. Maybe he finally reached his goal:
My goal: Keep everything online – uninstall everything.
Do you think we are there yet? Can one actually replace their desktop and live an uninstalled life? Let me know how you would go about doing it by leaving a comment.
Thoughts and Insanity From Jeff 
We are almost there, but some of the web apps just run too slowly compared to their desktop counterpart to ditch the desktop completely.
@Zac Davis Sadly your right. Although it seems like were very very close, were simply just not there yet. What do you think it will take to get to that point?
I think a major upgrade or change in the infrastructure of the Internet at least within the U.S. needs to happen. I also think we need FiOS like internet connection speeds to be commonplace across the globe.
We at least need free broadband connections throughout the continental US.
@Zac Davis Off the top of my head, I don’t see this ever happening. But if it did, I think it would go the way of Ad-Supported WiMAX. What do you think?
I think the northwest US has free broadband, don’t they? And, I wouldn’t mind a window or two pooping up when I connected and disconnected from the internet, if that’s what the ads are like. I would hope that the providers would use targeted ads, which allow the users to select their interests, which would allow publishers to reach potential customers and allow consumers to see products they are interested in. Win – win in my eyes.
This is going to pick up steam quick, but no I don’t believe we are there yet for general population.
Eventually there will be no operating systems, only a web OS (Google owned I’m sure) that you can load from any PC you are on. All apps will be online as well. The internet is going to be an even more amazing place in a few years!