Checking the clutch plate offline
There is no doubt in my mind about how crucial it is to have data and web applications (my goodness!) available offline in a developing world, where internet access-time is a privilege. So, kudos to Google for going where no one has before.
The first thing I’d do, if I were at my parents’ place in India now, is test Google Gears and its first supporting web application (service), Google Reader, on a 56kbps dial-up connection. But alas, I’m either sitting behind a 20Mbps throttled connection or a turbo-charged V12 T1 line; and they are both sadly immune to this offline / online toggle joy.
I wonder if anyone has done a check yet. I am curious to see how the synchronization fares—as in speed, response, images, ajax. I am also interested to see if it works on older versions of Windows (98, 2000) too. This would surely benefit my old folks.