In my first programming job (2000-2004), we mostly used "native" applications (the company was mostly mainframe but the "PC Programming" was done in VB6). Then

In my first programming job (2000-2004), we mostly used "native" applications (the company was mostly mainframe but the "PC Programming" was done in VB6). Then the .com crash happened and we hired all of these "web developers" that were out of work and all they knew was the web. So the next programs we wrote all of a sudden web based. I remember thinking that they weren't really a good fit since we were doing mostly file processing work. They were slower and needed permissions and required servers. I would imagine something similar happened everywhere. All of a sudden there wasn't many web developer jobs and web developers had to take "regular" programming jobs. And when all you have is a hammer... In the long run, of course the Web grew, but in that short period of time there was definitely a displacement of skills and the rise of "Web Applications". I'm not talking of public applications, but rather internal business applications.