Frankly, I think you’re wrong. I don’t think offline access is the “next big thing”, it’s the current thing we’re losing. We are so entrenched and accustomed to the desktop world (and all the benefits, caveats, and limitations that entails) that changing over vast swaths of business to a completely online app is not just a difficult sale, but a real business risk. Melding online and offline apps into one seamless experience is very enticing, especially to my team.

I also think you’re wrong because ruling out mixed access apps out of hand is bordering on hubris. You seem to believe that you have the business needs of a super-majority of users pinned down (your caveat at the end of your post notwithstanding). Personally, I see a large segment of users who would “get” this type of app fairly well, mostly because they’re doing it already. How many people off the grid prepare that presentation or fill out that form, only to wait to connect back to a network and actually send it on. Eliminating the need for them to remember to send, or actively seek out, that work product opens many, many doors.

This isn’t about airplanes; jebus knows I don’t want to work anymore on a plane that I’m forced to. But, this is about some assumptions. The assumption that connectivity is ubiquitous, that whatever was designed took into account every scenario the first time, or that it’s not even worth trying to sell this new way of what we’re already doing.

I could phenomenally wrong. The flip side is, so could you. My stake in this is that I get to play with technologies that allow me to do some seriously cool things for my customers, people who are off the grid by choice or by fortune.

Your stake as a 37s partner is that you’re staking a business segment on assumptions. I’ve tried your products and liked them a great deal. But they weren’t the solution we were looking for most of the time, and one huge thing was requiring full-time connectivity. It’s not a blame game, it’s business, and your business is now moving along under the assumption that this segment won’t grow because connectivity isn’t an issue. It is for, what I believe is, a much large base than your counting on.

Either way, best of luck. Time will tell and your welcome to come back here with a big fat “I told you so” if you were right.

What I am here to make fun of is the conspiracy theory. If we felt that offline access posed a grave threat to our business, there’s a wide array of technologies we could start using. Including SlingShot, the package from Joyent that let’s you build offline Rails applications.

I personally made Instiki, a local wiki, a few years ago as a downloadable application much in the same vein as these new packages offer (albeit without the sync-to-the-sky piece). So it’s not like we’re looking at incredibly sophisticated technology. All the pieces have been here for quite a while.

Maybe, just maybe, what I write is what I mean. I don’t think offline access is going to be big. I may very well be wrong on that. And if a few years from now offline access turns out to be the greatest thing since sliced bread and all our customers are clamoring for it, I’ll be more than happy to publicly reverse my position and bow to the will of the customer.

I wonder how many proponents of “offline access is the next big thing” would be willing to do the same if their predictions turn out to be a fizzle. You know, like push technology or any of the many, many technologies currently resting in peace.