Well, we can thank companies like Google, and the powerful role that email ended up playing in our world, for the simple fact that web-based email took off, and

Well, we can thank companies like Google, and the powerful role that email ended up playing in our world, for the simple fact that web-based email took off, and therefore email clients that ran on web pages became not only important but also the key to the bottom line for some companies. And when those companies then invested billions of dollars into browser technology to make it an even better platform for their content, and increased the power of JS and what a browser can do, then writing complex applications became inevitable. And the trend only continues, with the wave of virtual DOM technologies that have taken what used to be a static-based layout engine and made it quite dynamic. As for popularity, is there any other competing medium that allows an app to pretty much instantly run anywhere regardless of platform without user installation? No. And for that reason, they will always remain an intriguing way to distribute software. Just as many of the first apps for iphoneOS ten years ago were silly and stupid, a lot of it boils down to taste. Not all web apps are worth it, but so many are! Tastes will evolve for both users and developers.