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The author missed two key selling points of web apps. Firstly, users don't need to install to use web apps. They just need to open whatever browser and go to wh

by hn 17y ago

The author missed two key selling points of web apps. Firstly, users don't need to install to use web apps. They just need to open whatever browser and go to whatever url and the app is already there. Imagine if users have to install 100 desktop apps to have the same set of features which 100 websites offer. It's normal before the web era but ridiculous now. Secondly, web apps enable extremely fast iterating development and release. You can ship new versions as quick as you want, no delay, no real downloads, absolutely transparent to users. Essentially web apps and desktop apps are the same in the sense that they both depend on APIs. Web apps depend on remote APIs and desktop apps depend on local/native APIs. The more local dependency you can remove, the more powerful the apps can be. Therefore, web apps are much more powerful than desktop apps and desktop apps making uses of public APIs such as Twitter APIs, Facebook APIs are somewhere in the middle of the spectrum.

uuilly 17y ago
No install but in most cases you have to create a login, and the confirmation email often goes to spam. As for power, that all depends on your needs. 3d on the web is still on the weak side of weak. Offline access is still a major issue. Not to mention the tedium of single file uploads and zero OS / device integration. Despite its obvious flaw, the iPhone store has struck a brilliant balance in many ways. The install, update, remove cycle is way easier that deleting an account or uninstalling from the desktop. In most cases iPhone apps are just nice desktop interfaces for web apps (reinforcing the author's point.) In the Gates / Jobs interview Steve said that he believed people prefer a native experience w/ the power of the cloud to a pure cloud experience. Which is essentially what the author is saying.
rudin 17y ago
The lack of installation leads to another selling point of web apps. Security. Whenever I install something on my computer I instinctively flinch as I realize that I am handing over the keys to my car so to speak.

by hn 17y ago

uuilly 17y ago

No install but in most cases you have to create a login, and the confirmation email often goes to spam. As for power, that all depends on your needs. 3d on the web is still on the weak side of weak. Offline access is still a major issue. Not to mention the tedium of single file uploads and zero OS / device integration. Despite its obvious flaw, the iPhone store has struck a brilliant balance in many ways. The install, update, remove cycle is way easier that deleting an account or uninstalling from the desktop. In most cases iPhone apps are just nice desktop interfaces for web apps (reinforcing the author's point.) In the Gates / Jobs interview Steve said that he believed people prefer a native experience w/ the power of the cloud to a pure cloud experience. Which is essentially what the author is saying.

rudin 17y ago

The lack of installation leads to another selling point of web apps. Security. Whenever I install something on my computer I instinctively flinch as I realize that I am handing over the keys to my car so to speak.