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From where I sit, native applications still rule the day. Sure we spend more time in our browsers than anywhere else, but at least for me that was true back whe
by trotsky 16y ago
From where I sit, native applications still rule the day. Sure we spend more time in our browsers than anywhere else, but at least for me that was true back when Jacques still has the desktop war raging. IMO there is a good bit of web entrepreneur/HN hive mind selection bias here - I still go to Libre Office when I want to make documents, local dev tools for coding, local media players, local photo editors, etc. Sure, I can do a fair amount of that stuff "in the cloud" to varying degrees of effectiveness, but that doesn't come close to the last nail in the native application coffin. And I know a good number of people who even stick to desktop mail apps.
My point, I guess, is that I don't think the desktop war is dead - in fact there are a lot of decisions that go into how everyone picks their platform still today. So I don't really see that going away in mobile either - if nothing else on many platforms you can't even pick your browser. Also, much like on the desktop choosing one OS vs. another can really affect your security posture. In the coming years security is going to be a much bigger deal to a fast growing segment of the population.
- ChrisCooper 16y agoI agree. I think this viewpoint is a little skewed. Web-based applications have definitely not killed the desktop differences. However, I think there is a much better chance of them killing the mobile differences to a greater extent, since 1) we don't do as many processing-intense things on mobile platforms, like CAD, designing, etc., and 2) those processing-intense applications we actually do use on phones are also becoming available on the web for the large part.
- forcer 16y agoI am actually happy that everyone considers desktop software old dated and dead - less competition for me :) From a perspective of windows software ISV (yes, shareware which is supposed to be dead) I can say that there are lots of opportunities and companies making some serious money, unlike on the web where everyone expects to get things for free.
- stanleydrew 16y agoJust because everyone expects to get things for free on the web doesn't mean there aren't companies making serious money. They just make their money selling something other than software directly.
- luckyfish 16y agoSure, many people use office, media players, photo editors and ide's on the desktop. but most of the new code people write is inside web sites and servers, not inside the desktop. so most developers don't write for the desktop anymore.