The web is a runtime platform and a distribution medium for the client software here. The "bad" part of it isn't web mail per se, but that the client gets downl

The web is a runtime platform and a distribution medium for the client software here. The "bad" part of it isn't web mail per se, but that the client gets downloaded every time. OTOH, you don't have to find the software itself on some site, download and install manually, then configure, and so on. App stores try to solve this, but they suck in other ways (e.g. security -- at least the web has a security model. Native apps just expect some kind of ill-defined and unrealistic "trust" in the app's author).