Now that you know I am not an anti-AIR.. Here is what I have to say….

Nintendo went back to basics with wii as far as the visual representation of the game goes and covered it up with state of art motion sensing technology and it worked for them. Now the question!

Is Adobe trying to do the same with software and internet technology what Nintendo did with the Games? I think the answer is “YES”. Let me explain…..

Google, IBM, Microsoft, Sun Microsystems, etc… are investing heavily in Cloud Computing which is what they call Future of Internet Technology. Cloud Computing is considered the next generation model where MOST of your information will be stored on the internet (Internet Cloud).

Imagine a day when you don’t have to carry CD’s, DVD’s or any other storage devices because you can store all your data online which is accessible from any computer and anywhere in the world. Now that’s what I call technology with no boundaries. In such a scenario who would like to install applications on the computer or a laptop and carry it around. That’s not Web 2’ish or may be Web 3.0 is it?

Let’s look at it from another perspective. How many jobs can this technology generate? 1000, 10000, 100000 but is that enough? How many graphic designers exist who specialize in Photoshop? How many PHP, ASP, Ruby, Python, etc… programmers exist today? Millions! Almost every other site is designed and programmed using one of these technologies.

Keeping these things in mind I do not think Adobe can bring applications back to the Desktop when all the other techno giants are trying to move away from a computer based model.

Now what do you think is the future of AIR?

Quick Introduction to Adobe AIR:
Adobe Integrated Runtime (AIR) was previously known as Adobe Apollo. AIR is a cross-operating system runtime which allows web developers develop applications using their existing web development skills.

Now that you know what AIR is, let’s look at 10 best applications build on Adobe AIR. (Before you Install the applications below make sure you have AIR installed on your computer. If you don’t click here to install AIR)

1.    DiggTop on Adobe Air
Description: Displays a list of top Diggs and also shows the content in each of the top 10 posts.
Project Page: http://www.gskinner.com/DiggTop/
Download: Available on the site

2.    AOL Top 100 Videos on Adobe AIR:
Project Page: http://music.aol.com/help/syndication/desktop-widgets
Download : Available on the site

3.    Tweet-r on Adobe AIR:
Description: Tweetr allows people using twitter.com to send and receive messages from their desktop in 140 characters or less.
Project Page: http://www.tweet-r.com/
Download: Available on the site

4.    Adobe Kuler on Adobe AIR
Description: Shows a lit of color themes for different purposes.
Project Page: http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/kuler/
Download link: http://download.macromedia.com/pub/labs/kuler/kuler_desktop_061407.air

5.    CleVR Stitcher on Adobe AIR
Description: This software stitches photos together to create that perfect panorama picture. The interface is really easy, all you have to do is, drag & drop and hit “Stitch”
Project Page: http://www.clevr.com/blog/air-stitcher/
Download: Available on the site

6.    Air iPhone on Adobe AIR
Description: People who missed on the iPhone rush, this is your chance to own one for absolutely free. This AIR application was not only created to look exactly like iPhone but also to function and make calls just like the original masterpiece iPhone.
Project Page: http://merhl.com/?p=29
Download: http://www.merhl.com/air/AIR%20iPhone.air

7.    Google Analytics on Adobe AIR:
Description: This application helps you track your site traffic from the desktop. Currently it does not provide all the information and reports Google Analytics shows but does a good job of showing pretty basic ones.
Project Page: http://www.aboutnico.be/index.php/analytics-widget/
Download: http://www.aboutnico.be/index.php/downloads/

8.    AirPress on Adobe AIR
Description: This application lets you blog without login on to your website or wordpress admin panel. It is compatible with Wordpress and dotClear.
Project: http://www.airpress.org/
Download: http://www.airpress.org/airpress.air

9.    FineTune on Adobe AIR
Description: Music Player build on AIR technology.
Project Page: http://www.finetune.com/desktop/
Download: Available on the site

10.    DigiMix on Adobe AIR
Description: This application helps you create your own mix by adding multiple sound files to the console.
Project Page: http://www.digidood.com/digimix/
Download: http://www.digidood.com/digimix/deploy/DIGIMIX.air

Let us know what other applications you like.