An introduction to Opera Unite | Hacker News Reader

An introduction to Opera Unite

dev.opera.com

44 pointsmqt5 comments

This is a huge developement IMHO. If executed correctly, this has the potential to change how we look at the web. This is something that can be the starting point of web 3.0.

I have an opinion that instead of some crappy and diffiult to use address like unite://mymac.chrismills.operaunite.com/ they should register a TLD (I guess it is possible. Isn't it?) like .OP or something and start using that. So my address will be simply niyaz.op

I think, (as always) someone else will come along and do it better than Opera does and opera will be forgotten again. Sad, but true.

Anyway I love the Opera for these innovations. They are the pioneers in many cool things in the web. Kudos guys!

"I think, (as always) someone else will come along and do it better than Opera does and opera will be forgotten again. Sad, but true."

You might be right but I think, for better or worse, this is the type of thing Opera should be pursuing. Opera's only chance in the market is to spread virally. To have an Opera user tell an IE/Firefox/Safari user about this cool new feature that they could both use if that IE/Firefox/Safari user would just switch to Opera.

So I applaud them for moving in the right direction.

That said, the problem I see is they are focusing more on the platform than they are on the apps. Being a platform makes sense for web apps that have a large potential audience and can therefore draw developers. But for a browser with 2% of the market I think it makes more sense to roll out a comprehensive suite of apps first and introduce the platform later (the apps they do have are interesting but not enough to get me personally to switch).

I mean honestly, does anyone see a large number of developers making a special effort to develop for Opera?

It doesn't have to be a large number of developers. They just need a killer application. The File Sharing service seems to work just fine. And it's ok for both Intranet (unlike existing sharing application on the web) and Internet usage.

It's not their only chance in the market - they could go after a niche, like sports fans perhaps? You don't have to take the gorillas head-on.

Opera's only chance in the market is to spread virally. To have an Opera user tell an IE/Firefox/Safari user about this cool new feature that they could both use if that IE/Firefox/Safari user would just switch to Opera.

Looking at the howtos provided, it seems to me you only need Opera to host the solution and the rest is perfectly cromulent web-standards, that is: Any user with a JS-enabled browser should be able to hook up and use your app.

This doesn't invalidate your point about spreading the word about being able to do cool stuff with Opera, but it does not require a full lockin either.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com