Fred points out apps and services that are “Mobile First Web Second.” I don’t like the distinction. To me, it’s all the web. It’s this kind of thinking that leads to Wired’s ill-considered proclamation that “the Web is dead.” (I debate that in the second half of this thread here).
What, after all, is the web, really? To me, it’s a set of standards that allow for interconnection, sharing of experience and data, navigation between experiences, and a level playing field for anyone to create value. If we continue to see mobile as “different” from the web, we may lose the magic the web has evoked – the free and open platform which has allowed thousands of startups to bloom, many of which have changed the world, and, I hope, will continue to do so.
For more on this, read the Economist piece: A virtual counter-revolution. (Image at left is from that piece).
I tend to see it as the web becoming the ubiquitous web.
What, after all, is the web, really? To me, it’s a set of standards that allow for interconnection, sharing of experience and data, navigation between experiences, and a level playing field for anyone to create value.
What you’re talking about is the Internet, not the Web. The web is http and little software applications called “browsers”.
The Internet, on the other hand, is so much more than the Web. It’s TCP and UDP on top of IP. It’s hundreds of other protocols on top of TCP, only one of which it http.
The Internet was always so much richer than the Web. I, for one, am glad to see it start to return to its roots, to get away from this http browser obsession that we’ve had over the past decade.
@JG, I knew you or someone would bring up the “Internet v Web” meme, and rightly so. I honestly do not make a distinction – why the Web should not be held to the mores of the Internet is beyond me.
@John: Is it really a meme right now? I’ve been pretty consistently hammering that same point, on- and offline, for a decade and a half.
The reason I never lost that distinction is that I see the Internet just as open as it ever was, but the Web not so much. The web is more like mobile (closed) than it is like the internet.
Why is the web not open, in my mind? Because pretty much any site of long-term interest or value now has walled-garden logins/accounts that are necessary to either use or get the best usage out of their services. Even Google does this.
Frankly, I think the problem started when cookies were introduced. I do realize that view is a bit extreme. But do you see the point I’m trying to illustrate?
@John: Is it really a meme right now? I’ve been pretty consistently hammering that same point, on- and offline, for a decade and a half.
The reason I never lost that distinction is that I see the Internet just as open as it ever was, but the Web not so much. The web is more like mobile (closed) than it is like the internet.
Why is the web not open, in my mind? Because pretty much any site of long-term interest or value now has walled-garden logins/accounts that are necessary to either use or get the best usage out of their services. Even Google does this.
Frankly, I think the problem started when cookies were introduced. I do realize that view is a bit extreme. But do you see the point I’m trying to illustrate?
Bleaurgh.. double comment. Please delete. Cheers!
Is The Mobile Web In A Category Of Its Own? http://goo.gl/fb/QR1Na (In response to you, John)
I had been thinking a lot about this lately. Mobile apps came about due to websites offering it as an added feature to their services. So basically, it is only an extension of the Web. Can Mobile apps exist without the Web? For me the Web is the Internet.