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I think a couple interesting things are happening. It's becoming more obvious to everybody that good mobile applications are not cheap. This isn't news, but I
by slipperyp 15y ago
I think a couple interesting things are happening.
It's becoming more obvious to everybody that good mobile applications are not cheap. This isn't news, but I think the fact that it's widely understood is new within the past year or so.
Also, supporting multiple platforms tends to linearly multiply costs.
Also, good web based mobile apps are getting "more possible" with new technologies so there are reactions kind of like what this author seems to be saying is a done deal. The idea that mobile apps are dead is totally absurd. I mean, ask anyone on Android who's used maps.google.com on their phone (which is totally amazing) whether they have uninstalled the Google Maps app - it's just not happening.
There are two things that are important that the author seems to be ignoring - first is the fact that developing a good mobile web based app isn't easy or cheap either. The costs of supporting a gajillion mobile device web browsers and form factors won't multiply directly with the number of platforms out there, but there will be many, many platform/browser/form-factor specific bugs and annoyances to deal with. Second is the fact that regardless of how awesome canvas / mojito / etc. all get, afaik there is no model in the future where mobile web-based apps have an ability to do something like interact with the local data sitting on the device in other formats (like people / calendar) or with other devices that the mobile app developer can take advantage of (bump / beam). Rich interactions like that can let the mobile app developer build a much cooler experience.