

The end of native applications? - gspyrou
http://www.douglaspurdy.com/2010/08/15/the-end-of-native-applications/

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pedalpete
I'm going to agree with Dewitt. I think web app will become the dominant
framework for most users.

First off, I would refute the Douglas Purdy's argument about native having
earlier access to the underlying platform. That may be true now where some
devices have gyroscopes, while others don't, but how much useful stuff can you
cram into these devices. I suspect in the next 5 years the device capabilities
(gps, phone, accel, gyro) will have settled down to the point where they are
commodity features for 90% of the devices similar to the PC environments.

However, I think more important is that the majority of apps that get used the
most don't take advantage of these capabilities anyway. People are getting
directions, tweeting, checking-in, etc. So like your desktop, you may have a
few apps that you have to install, the majority of these apps function very
well from a browser.

However, in the end this decision is in many ways in the hands of developers.
If we aren't building the mobile web apps, then consumers have no choice but
to download the native. But how many developers are going to want to continue
maintaining code for different platforms. I think we'll see a few big players
get great success from mobile web apps, and then the rest of the developers
will follow.

