Although I agree with many of your points, the reality is that a whole class of desktop apps - call them 'business productivity' apps - has been replaced (for b

Although I agree with many of your points, the reality is that a whole class of desktop apps - call them 'business productivity' apps - has been replaced (for better or worse) by the SaaS model of web apps (Software as a Service). I used to believe that some types of desktop software (e.g. graphics, video editing, animation, 3D etc) could never work as web apps unless extremely limited in scope. But I was wrong. Compare the Figma UI with Sketch. Both apps share core UI design tools. Figma is delivered to a browser as a binary blob using Web Assembly. Sketch is a Mac-only native desktop app with all the speed and functionality advantage of a native app. Despite that, it is 'cloud-based' Figma which is now a serious rival to Sketch. The Sketch team even wrote a blog post extolling the virtues of native apps - no doubt with a nod to their cloud rival. [1] Sketch is also hampered by the fact that sharing designs or collaborating with others is harder than Figma. Sketch was designed in an era of single-user desktop app use, not the multi-user (cross-platform) scenario common today. This is a problem for some desktop apps. SaaS is a juggernaut that shows no sign of slowing down and is eating the desktop model. Whether that is a good thing or not is a question for another debate. [1] Why we’re proud to build a truly native Mac app: https://www.sketch.com/blog/2020/10/26/part-of-your-world-why-we-re-proud-to-build-a-truly-native-mac-app/ https://www.sketch.com/blog/2020/10/26/part-of-your-world-wh...