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At what point do we stop calling it a "browser" and start calling it "a crippled, inflexible OS?" Relying on the browser as the operating environment in which t
by Iftheshoefits 12y ago
At what point do we stop calling it a "browser" and start calling it "a crippled, inflexible OS?" Relying on the browser as the operating environment in which to run any and every kind of application seems like a misguided a path to take. At some point the browser would have to become a kind of middle-man between the underlying OS and the end-user. There are very few good reasons to prefer "web apps" over native apps in any environment.
- untog 12y agoI don't think anyone thinks that the browser is the perfect medium for something like this. But native development is still extremely costly, because every platform has it's own language and environment. If all the device manufacturers come together tomorrow and propose a cross-platform native programming platform then I'm all for it. Until then we'll rely on HTML.
- Iftheshoefits 12y agoEvery browser has its own quirks, as well, not to mention the magnitude of front-end technologies, back-end technologies, and everything in between. That is, developing for the web doesn't magically make these fragmentation issues you attribute to native development disappear. The cost is lower because the quality expectations are lower, both in terms of the end-product and the developers putting the product together. Put another way, if browsers become sophisticated enough to make them an appropriate medium for native-like apps that are more sophisticated than basic form data entry, what makes you think the cost to find competent, quality developers to write these apps to the level of quality expectation the end users will have won't be higher than it is today?