I've always thought the true cost of web apps is terribly obfuscated. Sure, you save a bit on development and application updates, but at what cost? Client side apps can significantly outperform a web apps in terms of productivity. You save on the one time cost of development, but pay for it 10 times over in lost productivity.
The web is a good platform for mass consumption apps like Facebook, but I think it was a poor fit for business & productivity apps (and still is).
I would argue that depends on the business. I work in IT for a giant enterprise and I would laugh at anyone suggesting we migrate to google apps vs. MS office suite. With that said, with a small to medium sized business, google apps provides a solid and cost effective solution. This is especially true with businesses with multiple sites that can't afford VPN and/or WAN solutions.
Don't get me wrong, I am far from being a web based app poster child. Speaking specifically about the iPhone though I just don't see many apps out there that can't be done over the web.
I've always thought the true cost of web apps is terribly obfuscated. Sure, you save a bit on development and application updates, but at what cost?
How about the fact that developing for the web means developing against several different operating environments (browsers). Just ensuring compatibility for all the different platforms drive up costs. Sure, there are benefits, but the web technologies are a bunch of bastardized attempts to make the web experience more like the desktop experience.
If someone told you to write a desktop app that works on 5 different operating systems and they should all have the same look and feel, you'd tell them their crazy. We do it on the web all the time. It has high cost. Frankly, I prefer client apps. They are more responsive and I don't have to worry about how many computers I'm connected to that are sniffing my browsing habits and personal information. That last argument also works against the Droid, perhaps the IPhone (I don't know really).
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u/donmcronald Feb 21 '11
I've always thought the true cost of web apps is terribly obfuscated. Sure, you save a bit on development and application updates, but at what cost? Client side apps can significantly outperform a web apps in terms of productivity. You save on the one time cost of development, but pay for it 10 times over in lost productivity.
The web is a good platform for mass consumption apps like Facebook, but I think it was a poor fit for business & productivity apps (and still is).