Web Or Apps?

I am a big fan of a life within a browser. I hate apps. Every time I have to install a program or application on my computer or smartphone, I don't like it.

Applications are evil. They crash. They have way too broad access to various niches on my hard drive. I don't trust them, in general. Imagine Mark Zuckerberg writing an application for Windows. What would it be doing? It would spend all time and resources scanning your file system and memory for things it could post on Facebook. It would invite all your friends to become fans of your bank account statements and post your Web browsing history as a Facebook news feed. Trust, or lack of it, is the reason I strongly prefer things running inside my browser. It is a big deal. Remember Activex versus Java in the late 1990's? Microsoft just could not implement secure enough way of handling native - code Activex controls, to prevent potential damage.

It is the same story again on the smartphone / teleputer platforms (the iOs and the Android). Yes, there are the Applications Stores and verification procedures promising to prevent malicious code from penetrating the security barriers. But realistically speaking, it is just a matter of time before a bomb explodes. Then there will be more x-ray machines and more strict procedures, increasing the burden of submitting applications to the stores. Never guaranteeing 100% security.

And apps are pain when they have to be upgraded. After just two weeks my iTunes shows 17 updates waiting for me. I have to download them, sync to all iPods and iPads. The civilization of upgrades.

But there is one very important reason apps are here to stay. At least for a time being. And it is not responsiveness in games nor ability to work offline. It is the monetization machines the application stores are.

Whatever it is, a scenario, an idea, or some piece of content. It is very difficult to monetize when implemented as a Web page. Yes you can run ads or make a member - only part of the site. But micropayments still do not exist on the Web, and there is no easy way to charge a small fee for what you want to offer. But when you decide to implement an app instead of a Web page, the monetization is seamless. Publish to the application store and get your share with every download. We need this for the Web. The one who successfully implements Web micropayments will be big. One day...