As a person who writes desktop software for people, the web has had an interesting effect on the way applications are designed.

For the last few years, for every bit of software I've written, upon first using the application, the end-user inevitably asks "where is the 'back' button?"

The web and web browsers are so deeply a part of people's computer software experience that many expect everything to act like a web browser. Granted, sometimes they are hoping for some kind of omniscient back button that magically returns them to some imaginary state.

But sometimes they are on to something. I think more applications need a "back" button.