[capidamonte]

Originally Posted by dpapathanasiou

If it's an issue of trust, building a desktop app doesn't solve the problem.

In fact, it makes it worse in some ways, b/c if you don't trust the web site in the first place, you're unlikely to install something from that site on your pc, for fear of viruses or malware, etc.

Open-source the app, and there will be no reason for mistrust. The point above by K-Thom about what your app offers is relevant: there are far easier ways to achieve the functional actions of the app -- it's the not-so-hidden agenda that is the problem. You want to be a go-to place for people to come; you want them to be dependent on you and ignorant of other solutions.

The point about uploading and downloading makes sense, but it is less valid now than 5-10 years ago, when broadband was less widely available.

As Flickr and YouTube have shown, people are ok with uploading and downloading decent sized files to and from those sites.

So? We are all using gasoline engines because 100 years ago, petroleum was cheap. The filth and destruction was seen as a cost borne by others than the businesses that made those decisions. The fact that the ignorant jumped on board is irrelevant to where the responsibility lies.

Wasting and inefficiency, particularly with something that has as much fine-grained control as programming gives, is still waste -- and it's clogging the 'tubes.

Also, with the advent of Google Docs and Zoho, the idea of using an app that was formerly desktop-bound on the web has become more acceptable. Even Microsoft Office is now available as as web app.

Again, so? Other people are doing something stupid, so I can too? You think I would trust Microsoft with my data, and control over anything I possess? Even Google, with the mission statement "don't be evil" has repeatedly crossed the line. It's the nature of corporateness -- responsibility is removed from action, and the worst people rise to the top.

I'm not against the idea of building a web app per se, but I just haven't heard of a compelling reason to do it.

I presume you mean desktop app, not web app. I actually think you're right -- there is no compelling reason to make such an app -- at all, web or otherwise. There are lots of people doing it for free, that don't have a reason for doing it that relates to harnessing the efforts and energy of others. I mean, I could write a zenity script that would do the job faster and more efficiently, and I'm no programmer.

Look, at the end of the day, you're in this for money. The natural inclination is for you to keep everything under your control, and to presume that because you're doing it, it must be good because you're good.

When circumstances change, so will your company's philosophy about privacy (see Facebook). A little nibble here, and a little nibble there... Perhaps not done by you personally, but certainly by the company you represent.

It's the nature of corporations and business people. It's not about art or excellence, it's about profit, influence and status.

There are exceptions, of course, but they're rare -- and they all involve actually producing something, either creative or tangible.

What are you producing? A list of other people's work?