June 12th, 2008
As I look at the buzz over the soon to launch App Store for the iPhone, I have to wonder: Why is their so much buzz for building clients applications for a 3G phone?
Here’s my theory: While the development platform for building client applications for the iPhone has taken what’s possible in mobile software to a new level, there has also been a significant evolution in what can be done on the mobile web. The latter cuts into the value of the former.
Sketching it out, here is the trend I see:
Back in the day, people would pay quite a bit for really rudimentary software. But that was the only way to expand the functionality of their devices. However, as the web became easier to access due to a combination of better mobile browsers, more mobile friendly websites, and faster mobile bandwidth, the need for client applications has become less and less.
People are no longer standing in line at the grocery store playing Soduku on their phones. They’re checking headlines in their Google Reader mobile or iPhone edition, or CNN, or any number of things more valuable than the previously mindless distractions they paid to download and install.
Clearly, there are things that can be done in a client application that dwarf what can be done using a mobile browser, but is it enough to reverse the trend toward mobile web browsing? I doubt it.
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Posted by:
Bill Heyman on
June 12th, 2008 2:50 pm
Mobile web browsing is absolutely here to stay. The benefits of centralized hosting and direct, fast links into data sources at the web servers are great, not to mention (generally) browsing platform and device independent code (HTML/CSS/etc.) of presenting data for an application.
Clearly, I view native iPhone applications as a way to supplement the mobile web browsing experience. For the iPhone, specifically, native apps will provide the more integrated user experience, allowing access to the hardware features, including 3D graphics, motion detection, complex user gestures, camera, location/GPS capabilities, microphone and audio, offline data storage, detached network access, background processing, and so on. Web apps can’t do any of these.
However, there’s a balance, which depends on the need of users for any particular application. Not all web applications should become native applications. Likewise, many native applications will need to be web-aware to achieve true integration.
Thus, native mobile (iPhone) apps don’t replace the mobile web browser, they become an advantageous (for the consumer and business) supplement to the overall user interaction with a business’ data.
Posted by:
Ed Kohler on
June 12th, 2008 4:10 pm
Bill, thanks for the comment. I’m interested in seeing what type of push-back my statements will get and appreciate your ground level input.
Posted by:
Ian on
June 12th, 2008 9:15 pm
The web definitely already has most of what anyone would need, even free web Sudoku. With Apple and the iPhone I think the exception is that the iPhone is all about style. The iPhone apps are just as fashionable as the phone itself. This alone might be reason enough for a lot of people to buy applications. For myself, I will probably stick to the google web apps, and I’m sure lots of free web apps will cater to the iPhone look and feel in due time.
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