I've been thinking exactly along these lines. The main bitcoin process should NOT be tied to the UI at all (and, while a wxWidgets UI is a great way to bootstrap the project, it's NOT a good solution for the long term).
In fact, I'd go so far as to say that one of the next major steps for the bitcoin system is two fold:
- Create a proper spec of the protocol (if one exists outside of the source code at this point, I haven't found it)
- Create a second, independent implementation of the protocol
Without a second, independent implementation, you can't be sure that the protocol is correctly documented.
Perhaps the "reference" implementation (which we're all currently using) doesn't need to change, but if I were designing a bitcoin client, it's be structured a LOT differently than the current client.
I second this. In particular, I would like to see a lightweight client that only handles transactions and doesn't do any CPU-intensive hashing or verifications. Simply announcing a transaction is something that is well within the capabilities of a cell phone or netbook. You could even designate a "trusted source" to keep track of your account information - so your cell phone could just ask your home computer how much you had in your wallet rather than trying to figure it out itself.
I'd be willing to make another implementation of the protocol if I can figure out what it is. The source code is documented ... poorly.