Spotty networks alter the client-server balance

The balance has gone back-and-forth for two decades now, and over the last few years it has been switching toward clients.

The debate is relevant because most clients are proprietary -- iPods, cellphones, PCs -- while most servers run open source. Thus the balance between client and server is a proxy for the battle between proprietary and open source solutions.

Thus, a few months ago, when Sun CEO Jonathan Schwartz wrote that he accepted the idea of thicker clients, he deliberately posted a little cut out of Munch's The Scream at the top. Given the way his predecessor, Scott McNealy, obsessed over "thin" clients, he knew some might treat the statement as heresy.

But it's simply reality. And the reason for that reality is contained deep inside his post:

You can get a signal nearly (I did say nearly) everywhere - but as we move from a world of relatively reliable landline networks, to one in which we share services with mobile and wireless networks, the latter's spottier reliability is becoming more pervasive.

Here lies the proof that our era of industry consolidation is wrong-headed. Clients are getting bigger because network coverage is poor. What Schwartz doesn't mention is that, outside corporate islands, even wired connectivity is no longer world-class. A 1.5 Mbps (maximum) DSL line is just not that fast any more.

The short version -- it's the network, stupid. Until we demand faster, more reliable and more competitive networks, clients are going to get fatter and open source will be at a disadvantage.