Enabling portable application development for new media networks

Unless the overall application development community is able to develop portable applications that can be deployed easily and cost effectively over the entire range of broadband networks the "community network" will provide a limited set of services that are controlled by a small number of service providers. As we have all witnessed in the world of the personal computer, a rich set of compelling applications is necessary to attract a critical mass of consumers to drive the economics of a fledgling industry. The key to portable applications is a widely accepted, open set of high level objects that provide an environment that hides the particulars of the network, the hardware, and the operating environment. It is most important to address the execution environment (sessions, connections, users, access, etc.), the set of services (messaging, directory, etc.), as well as the organization of information (content organization, navigation, etc.). This paper proposes such a set of objects.