I use a desktop, a laptop and a 7" tablet. It's a pretty normal range of devices. That said, it is an absolute pain in the behind, moving from one device to another as none of my settings (activities, file manager places, passwords etc) carry across. I end up avoiding customizing my desktop, because I can't rely on those customizations being consistently available across my devices. Similarly when I do a reinstall, it takes time to go through and set them all up again. Another issue is that editing the documents on my devices with other people at the same time is hard, bordering on the impossible.

None of these are issues for my wife, who happily uses Google Docs for everything.

So how does all this relate to the Workspace vision?

Well, my vision is that the KDE workspaces would make use of online services pervasively, to do more than just post images and documents to, but to replicate the portability and collaborative benefits in a desktop environment, that currently live only in things like Google docs.

Let me explain. Imagine entering your details for an ownCloud, unhosted, locker or similar account under System Settings > Account Details. Imagine that once you did, all the parts of your KDE setup that you had chosen were immediately synced with what you had already selected on other devices, adjusting for form factor and device limitations. Imagine you could access all the functionality of your ownCloud (or alternative) instance right from your desktop. For example you could right click a file, choosing "Share > Public" like you can in ownCloud's web admin panel, and get a public link to your file. Or you could do right click and choose Share > Group > ProjectTeam to share with that ownCloud group. Except here, you didn't have to open anything in your browser. In ownCloud you can share folders with groups (or individuals, or the world). What if Workspaces let us access that, too. I share my project folder with my team, right from my desktop. I can see all the files added / changed / deleted right from a folderview plasmoid. (Currently folderview doesn't allow webdav folders). In Google Docs, I can see who's currently editing any files I have access to. Imagine if, in that folderview plasmoid, you could see an icon / avatar by the file icon when someone was editing it. Imagine if opening that file, meant that by default, you were all editing collaboratively together, like an Etherpad. Yes, I know this last part falls more down to the apps / platform, but most of this is about having Workspaces expose functionality already being provided elsewhere, and making a consistent UI for app developers to incorporate.

In short, I envision a desktop as fast, beautiful and configurable as what we have now... but with the portability and collaboration capabilities that have been seducing people away from desktops and on to the web. Other projects are being created to handle the server side of this, we just need Workspaces to support their features pervasively as though they were native. They have much of the features needed already. The rest will likely be developed faster if they can see the possibility of widespread adoption and daily use from normal desktop users.

If we take the advantages of the web's portability and collaboration, make them our own and then add speed and customization they can't, then we have the opportunity to create something new and unique with clear advantages unavailable elsewhere. We do that and we can start bringing people's data back under their own control, increasing privacy *and* functionality at the same time.

That's my vision for KDE Workspaces.

+1
I like that vision. For me this is an approach we should think about.

+1

I think this is a great idea as well, but I don't want to store my settings on someone elses computer.

Suggested Setup Method...
* Goto: SystemSettings -> KDE Configuration Sync
* Enter WebDAV URL to your sync folder
* Choose checkbox for dealing with KDE version differences
** Only sync if KDE config file versions are the same (eg. both WebDAV folder and current KDE versions are at 4.8.3)
** Always Sync
* Choose when to sync
** Manually
** On KDE start
** A recurring date/time

Unfortunately, to do this correctly some sort of config file versioning will need to be in place so that it is easy to roll back to previous configurations if something breaks. Honestly, though, automatic versioning of the config files when they are changed is a good idea anyways as long as no one is doing something silly like storing unencrypted passwords in their config files. I know that OwnCloud has it's own versioning method, but a versioning method would be nice to have on the client side as well.