All of this is really cool, but why even bother running this in a web browser when a desktop application will run it without turning my MacBook air into a jet engine?
That has to be the least forward thinking stance on this technology I've heard.
Why hook a bunch of computers together? I can just put my files on a floppy and give them to a friend.
Why do we need wireless internet? I can just run a cat5 cable without sacrificing bandwidth.
To take any emerging technology at face value in it's infancy is doing a disservice to not only the technology but yourself. The quality of graphics and performance you're seeing here is comparable to late 90's early 00's 3d performance. If you put in a little more thought you'll see that in the relatively near future you'll be running full blown games via WebGL with WebSockets and such directly in your browser. No need to install, no need to compile, etc.
It's coming, I'm willing to bet we'll see it become common place within the next decade.
Because not everyone knows how to code and compile an application that runs on Windows, MacOS and Linux? Neither people tend to download desktop applications nowadays... or is it just me?
Hopefully WebCL will get some traction and the simulation could be moved to the GPU in... a year? That way JavaScript will just have to do a bit of wiring.
