[blitmap]

Strongly disagree here.

I think WebUSB will enable a lot of cool things, though it will definitely be hard to sandbox.

I want to program an Arduino from a web IDE. I want to control a 3d printer or pen plotter from a web application. I want to store things on a flash drive on my iPhone using a web-based file explorer? This last one sounds strange.

On a tangent, I see application runtimes moving into the browser by default with very few performance-critical applications remaining outside that stack. Photoshop and AAA games might be exceptions. Services like databases and web browsers would not have a need to be in Chrome.

(don't hurt me, I know I'm strange.. ~)

[petee]

Just because its possible, doesn't mean we should!

I see nearly no good reason for any of those uses to be web-based, and certainly not with hardware control! If you want to store files on your flash drive, the browser should handle that, not give out direct usb access...

Hearing this exists was a shock, like when the first Android 'Instant' load app showed up on my phone (apps that you don't install, but run themselves if you goto a website or a physical store, and without asking you)

[heroprotagonist]

Considering your use cases, why not simply require an extra step in the browser to enable it instead of turning it on for all users?

EG, take a few seconds to turn on a flag in configuration, or add a plugin.

[X-Cubed]

There is a permission prompt that appears, websites can't use the WebUSB functionality until you allow them too.

[Skunkleton]

Why do you want to use a Web IDE? I am not trying to cause tension, I am just genuinely curious.

[dgacmu]

For me: teaching!

Getting 400 students up and running with python is painful alone - without USB. For projects, some small fraction of those used USB, and we again had a pretty good chunk of time spent getting them all working.

[avian]

I would think that getting Python up and running is a valuable lesson.