The team behind Wakoopa, a social network that tracks and shares information about the desktop applications used by its members, noticed that Firefox and Safari were consistently ranked as the network’s top two applications by usage. So they took this as a cue to start measuring web apps in addition to desktop apps, since their data confirm (at least among the developer types drawn to its service) what we already know anecdotally: that web apps are slowly replacing desktop apps.
Starting today, sites like Flickr will be listed as software programs alongside traditional desktop apps like Photoshop. And if you check out a user’s profile page, such as co-founder Robert Gaal’s, you’ll see sites like Scribd and Gmail ranked alongside Adium and iTunes.
Wakoopa faces a bit of a challenge when it comes to defining, and then identifying, web apps. Virtually all websites could be considered web apps, but the line has to be drawn somewhere for practical purposes (Picnik is undoubtedly a web app but your cousin’s GeoCities page clearly is not). Wakoopa has decided to leverage our very own CrunchBase API to make the distinction, since most of the sites in CrunchBase meet the relevant criteria.
How important is this new functionality to Wakoopa’s success? It may turn out to be one of the most important product decisions the company makes. Gaal himself says that he “wouldn’t be surprised if [they] end up only tracking online software in the future.”
with a name like that i would have thought they were from russia, alasaka or maybe even part native indian.
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Wakoopa rocks, good move for them to support webapps. I still think their approach of seeing software as a social phenomena is better than just looking at improving productivity.
I agree. I am very excited about Wakoopa!
Thats a great web app find Mark, ill soon also open similar at http://www.mwd.com , but requires no downloads , since you know how people are sceptical about installing third party software (from social networks)
Ty Mark.
Go! Wakoopa Go!
Excellent service, great new feature and awesome guys to begin with.
One word: Grand!
To the Fleck/Wakoopa/NextWeb mutual admiration society: stop spamming these comments please.
Why?
hmmm, didn’t Naughty America get into the CrunchBase yesterday?
Does that mean it’s an online application now
I uninstalled wakoopa as soon as this news came in. While I realise that the expectation of privacy on the web is somewhat misguided these days, I don’t need yet another place storing my browsing history if I can help it.
Amen to that!
I noticed they also have a “What’s going on right now” news feed sort of thing on the main page that tells the world about “MegaTemplar started using Facebook” and “Timothy started using Gmail”. That’s sick.
I love how the assumption is made that the data this service collects represents a general populus of computer users - clearly very few people will be installing this on their work PC’s - so when a statement is made suggesting that “web apps are starting to replace desktop apps” it’s not taking into account the thousands and thousands of corporate deployments of Office software…
why do I wanna track what websites and apps i use again, I kinda know this already, cos i’m the one erm use’in it and guess what the nerds use a web browser most and not ms paint like this is a revelation - oh btw webapps are the future and desktop ones will go away myass they will, try doing some Maya in your firefox webheads.