Would it surprise you that I use fat clients for most internet stuff? That’s right, most of the apps I use are for cocoa or win-forms. The blogs I read, the mail I send, the music I listen to is rarely housed in safari, internet explorer, or firefox.

That’s because I don’t have internet at home. I’m a computer programmer, director or leading member of a handful of local computer groups, occasional podcaster, blogger, and really bad web designer. I have been working on replacing the traditional operating system with a web operating system since 2004. Ironic, no?

But while I’ll pay to get a current of electricity and water, or some walls with a roof, I’m not going to pay to talk and listen to you. If my parents didn’t value talking to me so much, I wouldn’t have a phone. I don’t have cable, satellite, and barely listen to radio. These things are synchronous, so for them to get my attention it has to be on their terms. Same goes for instant messaging.

Synchronous info can be great. There’s nothing like being able to talk to a loved one when you can’t be with them. There’s nothing like live video when you want to watch a game, see breaking news, enjoy your favorite show as soon as it airs. But I don’t need to hear about bills, see your latest fishing photos, read the latest company memo right now. And the best way to take synchronous info and hold it for asynchronous access is a fat client, bar none.

Most people are amazed at how tivo changed the way they watch tv. But you can do the same with almost everything. Do try.