Tablet/Apps fad

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  • bzsaw0

    This is where I want it to go.
    http://twitter.com/#!/bzsaw/stat…

    I'm guessing these will get as powerful as any laptop, eventually.

    • Just about every Adobe program has a pen tool. How would that work on a tablet?CyBrainX
    • The moron doesnt know about cintiq?animatedgif
  • orrinward0

    Saw someone watching something on his iPad while standing on the tube the other day. Train pulls into the station and stops quite abruptly. iPad falls on floor. Desperate businessman starts picking up bits of glass as if he'll be able to get it fixed.

    I found that amusing. Tablets really don't appeal to me for anything other than the 'ooh' factor. If they get haptic feedback on the keyboards on them then I'll be interested, but I just don't like interacting with something without physical feedback.

    • well the guy is an idiot, but it has nothing to do w the productMiguex
    • if he was holding a laptop computer or a blackberry nothing changesMiguex
    • I wasn't discrediting the product. It was just a funny situation.orrinward
  • gramme0

    ^ Ouch. That's why you get one of those neoprene protector cases. But I see your point.

    • I have seen that happen with cameras my whole life. It is not an Apple thing. I don't see the point.monospaced
  • epic_rim0

  • raf0

    Didn't you just write a month ago in a Flash/html discussion that it was all irrelevant because mobile apps were the future and were to replace the web on mobile devices? I remember Stewdio agreed... Or did Stewdio write that and you nodded?

  • raf0

    Here it is, two months ago you said:

    ---

    I think the web itself is dead as we know it..

    We are in a full blown transition to application model on mobile devices, handhelds, TVs, phones, tablets etc..

    I think it's only natural.. as web 2.0 was maturing, so did business models.. and more and more we saw startups creating services/platforms with API hooks. This is Web 3.0.

    I was and am involved with several startups and this is how things are morphing now..everyone is doing this model.. it's the next step.

    Most sites don't have the destination model anymore in terms of web site.. they do have website still, but not for the same necessity as before, less and less people want to get people to visit their sites. It's all about APIs.. so Netflix, Hulu and all others are now using devices and your TV and your consoles to hook into the those websites you were using your computer to visit.

    Even now, you see that our desktop computers won't be really using browsers anymore but will use online stores such as OSX App Store, or Intel's AppUp, or Adobe's InMarket etc where you will be running applications the same way you run them on your home/portable devices.

    http://www.qbn.com/topics/644223…

    • The comment was more about traditional websites going away and using internet as backbone for the experience.Boz
    • thus Web 3.0 reference.Boz
  • Boz0

    Nah.. maybe i didn't make it clear.. apps approach is ok.. but it needs to be tailored as a front end.. traditional websites like we have now are going away..

    Native apps have their own uses.. I'm not saying they are completely useless..as sometimes you do need native API access for the device's capabilities. But everyone just making everything as a native app and launching startups that do this, investors spending money, when you could just as well just use a url like app.example.com and it will run as a native app on your iPad or iPhone (aka Google stuff). It's a bubble waiting to burst.

    I think that having universal apps (such as web apps that adopt themselves to the device) and are written once are the future using web technologies like HTML, JS, CSS and yeah even Flash to create experience without middle-men like Apple for example.

    To give a very clean example.. Google TV.. Google TV uses app approach but it is really a front end that's HTML5 (it's still a web app) but it is tailored for TV.. the back end is the important part.. Another similar example is Netflix on PS3.. they've actually used Webkit to build an app that would render HTML5 and webkit stuff and run their app independent of the platform (or something to that extent).

    My comments in this regard, which I still stand behind are that traditional websites like we had so far are going away and will be replaced with app looking functionality while still being connected to the internet through APIs and platforms. IMO this is the future.. doesn't mean internet is dead.. it just means we are using it differently by using the best things it gives us (openness, back-end APIs and so on) and making it available on ton of devices without writing 5 versions of the app.

    • So you're saying future internet will be websites, only more advanced?
      Thanks, great insight Boz :)
      raf
    • and yeah.. I'm not a huge fan of app stores btwBoz
    • I think I know what you mean and it's ok to change outlook with time. I wasn't buying this "it'll be all apps" though.raf
    • Apps are mostly popular because they're a good way to charge people for the same functionality websites have.raf
    • it is possible I aligned my view a bit too... I was maybe too harsh saying web is dying..Boz
    • Nothing new when you look at it, still client-server model, only the client isn't always gonna be a browser.raf
  • must_dash0

    I'm more willing to hand my ipad than my laptop to my 14 month old daughter... and she gets it, (apart from wanting to press that bloody physical button on it)

    But she likes the drawing bit, and watches waybuloo in the car on it, and there are some kids apps she loves. I use it to look at email / ebay / twitter / facebook / kindle / movies, and test stuff out on...

    multi purpose and works brilliantly

  • abettertomorrow0

    If you think about it though Boz, a lot of the Web 2.0 hype was built on some pretty speculative business models. On the other hand the app customer base is well established and not going anywhere. Even if people lose interest in tablets a few years from now (which remains to be seen), there will still be a huge market for smartphone apps which will be getting ever more powerful/functional in capability.

    The idea that you can isolate one single future trend and say everything will be one way or another is kind of fictional anyway. There will be apps, and people making rich sites with HTML5, WebGL and Flash. No need to write off one approach or another.

  • Boz0

    totally..I'm just looking at it from a hype stand point and the venture investment standpoint.. there are insane amounts of money going into app development companies that almost certainly won't be sustainable.

    I like tablets, I like apps.. but you gotta be realistic about what they do, what they are needed for and to what level to base your entire business model around.. This is what happened during dot com bust.. and similar things are happening right now in mobile space..

    I can tell you that a lot of VCs I follow have very similar opinions about this whole situation even though they are not necessarily tech oriented.

  • Duane0

    Amazing numbers. I doubt the iPad is going anywhere soon.

    http://www.businessinsider.com/c…

  • antagonista0

    This ass obviously doesn't take the subway.

  • monNom0

    I can see apps becoming the norm for younger audiences. They provide a walled garden that keeps a lot of the nasty stuff from the internet out, while still using network connectivity. For an older audience that wants choice and can navigate around adult content and situations, I don't see a benefit over a webpage in a browser that connects to the same API.

  • animatedgif0

    "when you could just as well just use a url like app.example.com and it will run as a native app on your iPad or iPhone"
    Yep you can do that, but I can't sell that through iTunes so you wont make any money.

    Two things are responsible for the app boom:
    1 - The iTunes store which has made it easy and casual to part with small amounts of money for apps. With the web people are used to getting content for free, not the case with apps.

    2 - The locked down system means moms and idiots can't break their device by installing garbage, so they are no longer scared to actually use the device and buy/install apps. If you watch the same people using a computer you can tell it's like walking on eggshells for them.

    Yeah an open garden where developers didn't need to learn a new language would be nice for developers but it wouldn't have had anywhere near the same impact.