If we are comparing a desktop app to a web app, an apples to apples comparison has to include frontend and backend. >Is using web APIs for things like networki

If we are comparing a desktop app to a web app, an apples to apples comparison has to include frontend and backend. >Is using web APIs for things like networking and storage really more burdensome than using the corresponding POSIX APIs? Yes. Absolutely it is. If nothing else, you don't have an auth step. Not to mention the infrastructural and management overhead of web APIs. I don't have to worry about the care and feeding of a customer's hard drive the same way I do my service's database. Or pay Amazon for the privilege of using something more convenient.