Bye Bye Web, Hello Apps

From the post:<p><i>Mobile is the New Black<p>I much prefer using the apps for Facebook and Twitter than I do the traditional websites for these two applications.<p>The reasons for this are applicable to both cases. I find that using apps on my iPod Touch is a more personal experience, probably because the online world I’m exploring is all in the palm of my hand, literally.<p>I can also access it away from the formalities of a desk. Slouched on the sofa, sitting in the garden and dare I say, on the toilet. You could take your Mac Book Pro’s to these places too but it isn’t the same really is it?</i><p>To get it out of the way: Apostrophe S is not a plural!<p>The main point I wanted to make is this: the smartphone form factor is only one stepping stone on the path of the mobile computing revolution. Just <i>having</i> a computer on the same device as your mobile phone has been worked out. Now we are starting to see the limits of that form factor. No smartphone is yet or ever will be the be-all end-all device. It's only logical that other forms are to follow.

Very typical of the non-typical web user. We are so immersed in this stuff daily we fail to realise that most people don't twitter or seek out new ways to interact with the web.<p>As for the Facebook app example, the article itself highlights the flaws of apps - they are slowly updated and lacking in features compared to the live sites. Try managing your Facebook on the iPhone. Try watching Facebook videos. Try Facebook chat (it's somehow even buggier than the live site).

I think the key factor to look at in terms of economics is this:<p>How much cheaper is it to distribute something as a web app?<p>With ever more pervasive internet, for a lot of desktop applications, the answer is "a lot cheaper". For mobile phones, it's probably not <i>that</i> much cheaper for people, given that they pay for data. If you try and handle several platforms (S40, S60, Android, iPhone), it is probably cheaper for companies though, so that's a point in favor of the web. Interesting stuff...