Re: Usability tell

I think Jordan is distinguishing between delivery mechanisms, not applications. Whether right or wrong, many associate any Windows application (and terminal emulation is such an application) as "thick", while a browser is considered "thin".

Maybe the "thickness" is now less about size than about ease of updating - with a browser you can make changes to the application and have it at everyone's site immediately, as Scott K mentioned.

I looked up a wiki of "thin client" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thin_client) that uses the term "fat" client - that article has this definition -

"A *thin client* (sometimes also called a *lean*, *zero* or *slim client*) is a computer <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer> or a computer program <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_program> that depends heavily on some other computer (its /server/) to fulfill its computational roles."

And here is an expansion on that idea -

"The most common type of modern thin client is a low-end computer terminal <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_terminal> which only provides a graphical user interface <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphical_user_interface> - or more recently, in some cases, a web browser <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_browser> - to the end user."

I can see where we could say that a good example of a thin client is a dumb terminal - almost all of its processing is done on a server. ASCII terminals would be similar, right?

I think this reply's separation of think and thin based on the use of JQuery is useful - but it is better characterized for me as degrees of thickness, not categorically thick or thin.

Just thoughts before going to lunch! Maybe I'll think better after some food!

Vern

On 1/24/2014 6:18 AM, whatt sson wrote:

Gary,

Peacock had it wrong also.

"thick" vs "thin" client applies to the application software, not the
supporting infrastructure such as a browser.

So, a green-screen app is "no client at all".

A web app is "thick client" if lots of the app functionality is implemented
in javascript and runs in the browser.
For example, an EmberJS web app is "thick".
A pure PHP app (which only emits HTML) is "no client", as all the app code
is on the server.
A web app, with a bit of jQuery, which only does presentation, and no
processing/validation is "thin".
A VB app, can be "thin", or "thick".

etc.





On Thu, Jan 23, 2014 at 9:05 PM, Monnier, Gary <Gary.Monnier@xxxxxxxxx>wrote:

Here's some fuel for the fire...

A colleague at another company once said "If you think a Browser is a thin
client, think again. If you don't believe me just look at the size of a
web browser. You'll see it is pretty thick!"



-----Original Message-----
From: midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:
midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Matt Olson
Sent: Thursday, January 23, 2014 10:50 AM
To: Midrange Systems Technical Discussion
Subject: RE: Usability tell

Looks like the web page implementation wasn't properly thought out in that
example. Perhaps a windows form application would have been more
advantageous instead of a web application.

Perhaps this will give you a compelling reason why you want to start
thinking towards the future and going to the web instead of the green
screen:


http://www.extremetech.com/gaming/154994-epic-mozilla-release-unreal-engine-3-html5-demo-to-the-public-and-its-awesome


-----Original Message-----
From: Dan Kimmel [mailto:dkimmel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Thursday, January 23, 2014 11:12 AM
To: Midrange Systems Technical Discussion (midrange-l@xxxxxxxxxxxx)
Subject: Usability tell

Those interested in the Greenscreen vs Webpage usability debate will find
this blog compelling:

http://www.ribbonfarm.com/2014/01/21/poor-usability-tell/

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