[LINK] The App is Dead (OK Not Really, But The Browser Is Back)

[Frank O'Connor]

Well, yeah .... but ...

Most apps are coded simply to select Web content and whack it into a new more pleasing interface (with respect to the device you're using). I mean that's why they call them mash-ups.

Take it from me, a full browser presentation on a 4" screen or even a 10" pad screen really sucks. The text is impossibly small, if you increase the size of same the layout goes to hell, and even with the device dependent tags that exist in HTML 5 combining a layout that caters equally to a 4", 10", 21" and 30" screen simply isn't on the cards.

I guess what I'm saying is that I like a lot of the device dependent apps (for News aggregation, for data sources like Wikipedia, and, hell, even for news media sites and the like) because they reduce information overload, are available in a number of incarnations and GUI's which may or may not suit your purpose, have some really cool features some browser based apps don't have, and tend to present the information in a manner optimised for the device you are using to access the data.

Bottom Line: I'd be wary of endorsing a 'one size fits all' solution, but have no problems with an open solution (HTML3,4,5 or whatever) and data formats from which app developers (including generalist browser developers) can pick and nab as their application deems fit.

Just my 2 cents worth ...
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On 14/05/2012, at 9:34 AM, jim birch wrote:

> http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/the-app-is-dead-ok-not-really-but-the-browser-is-back.php
> 
> *"But with the rise of HTML5, the next generation of the Web's markup
> language HTML, the attractiveness and functionality of mobile websites has
> gotten richer and more interactive. That's what Schleifer means by "if it
> can be done on the Web, build it for the Web." In 2008, it may not have
> been possible to get the functionality you wanted via a mobile website. But
> in 2012, more often than not it can be done on the Web."
> 
> Jim
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> *
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