End-to-end or end-to-edge solution?

What's the difference? One is about connectivity; the other is about connectivity, integration, and user experience.

For instance, an end-to-end solution stops at a node (i.e. a computer, a client device, and so on). When you consider the edge--not The Edge (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Edge )--you include the application’s overall user experience. To illustrate the difference, examine and compare the Internet and the web. The edge solution in this case is the web browser. For a few decades now, you could have placed a computer as an end-node on the Internet. You still can. However, the introduction of the web browser with web protocols has brought that node to the edge. A whole new paradigm for information delivery and discovery was introduced – the edge.

For a more recent example, compare a typical cell phone to an iPhone (http://www.apple.com/iphone/). The iPhone takes an end-to-end solution and disrupts it. It doesn’t qualify as an end-node as other cell phones historically have. Suddenly the rules have changed, and a new edge has been defined. Whereas many cell phones have given you the ability to manage your schedule, tasks, addresses, and phone numbers, the iPhone creates a whole new experience that brings it to the edge.

An example of an edge enabler is JavaFX script (http://java.sun.com/javafx/), which delivers the ability to easily build rich web 2.0 client interfaces. What areas of user experience can you bring to the edge with JavaFX? Perhaps it’s on the trading floor of a financial institution, where an interactive, performant, client application is required. Until now, Java may not have been the first choice for client UI development, and web 2.0 Ajax applications have not been suited for such mission-critical, performance-first, applications. JavaFX Script aims to solve this.

JavaFX – An Integration Technology

I’m excited by the possibilities that JavaFX Script and JavaFX Mobile introduce, and the applications that will be brought to the edge with them. This is particularly important in the age of integration—a term I’ve introduced in earlier blog entries (see http://www.ddj.com/blog/javablog/archives/2006/08/the_age_of_inte.html to read about that).

In this age, a single standalone application may have limited-to-no value unless it’s plugged into a more complete solution that brings that application to the edge. For instance, an MP3 player is an end-node device. iPods have been successful in this space not just because they look cooler. An iPod is enormously successful because it’s an edge solution that’s coupled with iTunes; it’s an integrated edge component whose true value is derived from an application that easily allows you to acquire and deliver content (music, videos, podcasts, movies). It’s difficult to create an iPod-killer without recreating the content acquisition and delivery mechanism that goes along with it.

Let’s review the three edge examples I’ve given so far (the web browser, the iPhone, and the iPod):

-The browser is valuable because it connects to the Internet with web protocols
-An iPod is more valuable because of iTunes
-The iPhone is more valuable because it integrates with a cell phone network and with the Mac OS X desktop.

Future “End-to-Edge” Solutions

What applications will JavaFX help bring to the edge? Only time—and talented people like you—will tell. Hopefully this blog entry will help to get your creative juices flowing, and perhaps you’ll be willing to share them with the community. If so, feel free to respond to this blog below, and share your ideas.

Happy coding.
-EJB

Posted by Eric Bruno at 06:20 PM  Permalink