>A browser permanently playing catch-up will always be an additional, potentially redundant, layer in the technology stack. If a single OS ends up running >90% of the world’s connected devices, why bother writing software for the browser?
I can't agree here. I think the OS world will be fragmented for a very long time (forever) and that the browser world will always have a core set of functionality to write apps once that run everywhere. I don't think Android, iOS, or the desktop browser are going anywhere fast, and so the only platform you can write for that reaches all three is the browser.
I suppose the author is predicting the end of desktops/laptops being relevant but even given that (which I don't think will ever happen) there will still be iOS and Android. That's still double the work to release one app on both. People will always try to find the common denominator and the browser is it (even if in another incarnation, e.g., Cordova/PhoneGap).
And assuming Android beats iOS, I can't imagine it beats the WWW too. I'd like to see a statistical breakdown of "native" apps with embedded browsers vs actual native apps. And if Cordova simply won't ever offer an elegant enough user experience, then I think Firefox OS will become the winner. The WWW is just so much bigger than Objective C or Dalvik, no one's going to port all that. So, even assuming that one OS rules >90% of devices, what percent of existing webapps/websites is that? And what percent of existing mobile apps' tech stacks is that, accounting for apps that are seemingly native but actually built on web tech?
Also it spares you from having to write Java, or worse - Objective C. I went for HTML5 just because I could use a (relatively) sane language and not be forced in walled gardens in the process - like having to buy a $3000 Mac to use a language that looks like it's straight from the 80's (and now they're trying to get me to buy a Mac just so I can view the console output of my Javascript app - I'm starting to think Apple HATES the people that develop software for their devices).
I can't agree here. I think the OS world will be fragmented for a very long time (forever) and that the browser world will always have a core set of functionality to write apps once that run everywhere. I don't think Android, iOS, or the desktop browser are going anywhere fast, and so the only platform you can write for that reaches all three is the browser.
I suppose the author is predicting the end of desktops/laptops being relevant but even given that (which I don't think will ever happen) there will still be iOS and Android. That's still double the work to release one app on both. People will always try to find the common denominator and the browser is it (even if in another incarnation, e.g., Cordova/PhoneGap).
And assuming Android beats iOS, I can't imagine it beats the WWW too. I'd like to see a statistical breakdown of "native" apps with embedded browsers vs actual native apps. And if Cordova simply won't ever offer an elegant enough user experience, then I think Firefox OS will become the winner. The WWW is just so much bigger than Objective C or Dalvik, no one's going to port all that. So, even assuming that one OS rules >90% of devices, what percent of existing webapps/websites is that? And what percent of existing mobile apps' tech stacks is that, accounting for apps that are seemingly native but actually built on web tech?