There’s a big risk that it moves in that direction, indeed. But that depends on what kind of tech gains traction. Imo, a great local-first app has a rich client and a dumb server that serves simple functions like relaying, backing up and auth.
The main challenge is social. Once you have true local first, lots of apps have no plausible excuse to store all your private data in plain text. I can already see the disappointed faces of the VCs and other bean counters when they understand this. But for good or bad, that also means that there will be very little money behind these efforts.
The main challenge is social. Once you have true local first, lots of apps have no plausible excuse to store all your private data in plain text. I can already see the disappointed faces of the VCs and other bean counters when they understand this. But for good or bad, that also means that there will be very little money behind these efforts.