This is a somewhat inflammatory title with a fairly unsubstantial article behind it. Whatever.
First came applications. In the mid-90s Microsoft was terrified that the Internet and Netscape would kill the Windows/Office golden goose and they (fairly successfully) subverted the Internet through browser fragmentation.
The advantage of the Web was that it wasn't OS-specific. Microsoft wanted (wants!) you to be locked into their platform.
The 2000s see the rise of the RIA (Rich Internet Applicatdion). One-page sites like GMail, etc (although they aren't always strictly one page). The core idea here is that even though performance was (is?) bad, increasing computer power will solve that problem sooner rather than later.
Let's face it, HTML/CSS/JS is a pretty terrible solution. Browser/OS differences are endemic. It's slow. Modularization (of a Web app) is awkward at best. Offline is incredibly awkward.
What caught people by surprise was mobile. Unlike a desktop, power usage and size became far more important than raw CPU power. Uh oh, Moore's Law no longer to the rescue.
You can be pedantic about J2ME apps (or whatever) predating iOS apps but let's face it: Apple popularized and commercialized the idea of apps even if they didn't outright invent them.
While the rise of the mobile app may appear quick, the pedigree of iOS in particular goes back 15 years. It's really an amazing set of APIs. At the same time, Apple has largely avoided fragmentation issues.
So what makes the app market successful on mobile is:
1. Easy to purchase, install and update. You cannot discount the lack of friction in purchasing apps. It is (IMHO) incredibly important;
2. Much better performance both online and especially offline; and
3. Ease of discovery.
Apple may not have been the first to recognize it but they've also embraced this same strategy on OSX. Google (disclaimer: I work for Google) has the Chrome Web Store. Microsoft is essentially copying the OSX App Store for Windows 8.
I don't see any doomsday scenarios about the Web going away. That's just linkbait. If anything, what I see will happen is consolidation. Now instead of producing just a Website, you need an app (or, preferably, several apps for the different relevant mobile OSs).
Take Newegg. The website is still as good as ever but honestly it's a joy to use their app on the iPad, so much so that I will have trouble buying my parts from anywhere else.
Apple has recognized the need in the modern computing environment to essentially sandbox everything. The Microsoft of old used to take as gospel the need for backwards compatibility so always avoided breaking changes. Google too has realized this to a degree (websites are sandboxed).
Personally I believe the dark horse in that race is Chrome's NaCl (Native Client) as it combines the delivery of the Web (to Chrome at least) with the speed of native applications. Time will tell.
But please do me one favour and quit it with the linkbait-y "apps will kill the Web", "Apple's/Facebook's walled garden will ruin everything", etc. Fears of the worst are nearly always overblown.
Easy to purchase, install and update. You cannot discount the lack of friction in purchasing apps. It is (IMHO) incredibly important;
Compared to what? Not having to purchase, install and update at all? Lack of friction compared to not having to travel the mile at all?
Ease of discovery
I think "read tweet, click link" is as fast as it can to go. And still, the most used mobile app is the browser.
My personal opinion is that native apps that have a WWW equivalent are doomed: Their appeal rests on the fact that they can still do "cool" stuff by taking advantage the touch interfaces that the web was not designed for. Otherwise, they are indistinguishable from desktop apps: games and other heavy-duty processing. The web is not going anywhere.
First came applications. In the mid-90s Microsoft was terrified that the Internet and Netscape would kill the Windows/Office golden goose and they (fairly successfully) subverted the Internet through browser fragmentation.
The advantage of the Web was that it wasn't OS-specific. Microsoft wanted (wants!) you to be locked into their platform.
The 2000s see the rise of the RIA (Rich Internet Applicatdion). One-page sites like GMail, etc (although they aren't always strictly one page). The core idea here is that even though performance was (is?) bad, increasing computer power will solve that problem sooner rather than later.
Let's face it, HTML/CSS/JS is a pretty terrible solution. Browser/OS differences are endemic. It's slow. Modularization (of a Web app) is awkward at best. Offline is incredibly awkward.
What caught people by surprise was mobile. Unlike a desktop, power usage and size became far more important than raw CPU power. Uh oh, Moore's Law no longer to the rescue.
You can be pedantic about J2ME apps (or whatever) predating iOS apps but let's face it: Apple popularized and commercialized the idea of apps even if they didn't outright invent them.
While the rise of the mobile app may appear quick, the pedigree of iOS in particular goes back 15 years. It's really an amazing set of APIs. At the same time, Apple has largely avoided fragmentation issues.
So what makes the app market successful on mobile is:
1. Easy to purchase, install and update. You cannot discount the lack of friction in purchasing apps. It is (IMHO) incredibly important;
2. Much better performance both online and especially offline; and
3. Ease of discovery.
Apple may not have been the first to recognize it but they've also embraced this same strategy on OSX. Google (disclaimer: I work for Google) has the Chrome Web Store. Microsoft is essentially copying the OSX App Store for Windows 8.
I don't see any doomsday scenarios about the Web going away. That's just linkbait. If anything, what I see will happen is consolidation. Now instead of producing just a Website, you need an app (or, preferably, several apps for the different relevant mobile OSs).
Take Newegg. The website is still as good as ever but honestly it's a joy to use their app on the iPad, so much so that I will have trouble buying my parts from anywhere else.
Apple has recognized the need in the modern computing environment to essentially sandbox everything. The Microsoft of old used to take as gospel the need for backwards compatibility so always avoided breaking changes. Google too has realized this to a degree (websites are sandboxed).
Personally I believe the dark horse in that race is Chrome's NaCl (Native Client) as it combines the delivery of the Web (to Chrome at least) with the speed of native applications. Time will tell.
But please do me one favour and quit it with the linkbait-y "apps will kill the Web", "Apple's/Facebook's walled garden will ruin everything", etc. Fears of the worst are nearly always overblown.