The Real Deal

So far, I’ve outlined my thinking on my Limulus Systems project without getting into specifics because of an apparent (and perhaps misguided) need for secrecy. However, now that I’ve revealed that the app will be about scrapbooking, I can talk about it in greater detail.

What I intend to produce is a browser-based digital scrapbooking app using HTML5, the most current web programming language – it will be an app that resides in the cloud. Users will upload photos to the app from their desktops or (hopefully) tablets, and then put them onto digital “paper” and manipulate them with text and decorative elements. Once photos are uploaded, all creative work will be in the cloud, through web browsers. The advantage to this is that users will not be tied to any individual computer or tablet to be creative. Scrapbook pages begun at home on a desktop computer could be continued on a tablet while waiting at the dentist’s office, and completed on another computer while traveling. With the ability to scrapbook anywhere, people will have more time to do their favorite hobby, and I can tell you from my survey data, that time is the major limiting factor in doing more scrapbooking.

Why use HTML5, rather than some other technology? HTML5 is the most recent iteration of the technology that makes many browser functions work. It runs on all recent devices and browsers, unlike other commonly-used technology such as Flash by Adobe, which most notably does not work on Apple iPads and iPhones. In addition, HTML5 does not require the download of a plug-in to get it to work, as does Flash. There has been some controversy over which is better, the open-source HTML5 or proprietary Flash, but even Adobe has admitted defeat in the Flash versus HTML5 wars, with their recent announcement that they will discontinue mobile Flash development. HTML5 it is, then. If HTML5 can do everything I want – and that is still a big IF until I talk to some programmers – it should provide a seamless experience of scrapbooking in the cloud.