This could be extended to say "Today, Development Sucks." Today, not only do you need a web-accessible application to stay competitive, you best develop native iPhone and Android apps. Even better, whip together a native Mac app.
You think both client-side and server-side validation is bad? Try developing 4 different client-side applications on different languages and frameworks.
Evernote came out and said it attributed part of its success to developing native apps for Android, iPhone and now Mac. Adobe Air and HTML provide an inferior user experience on respective devices.
This is also the reason I feel 37Signals is falling into obsolescence. They just launched a mobile "site" for Basecamp. Not an app, but an HTML, mobile-optimized site. Their blog admits to simply wanting to focus at "what they are good at" which is the first foot in the obsolesce coffin. They hired an iOS developer for their Highrise iPhone app, but said they felt the talent should be in-house for future projects. I agree, but their decision, again, was to keep doing the same old thing. Not exactly an innovative, hacker mindset in my opinion.
> Try developing 4 different client-side applications on different languages and frameworks.
People aren't going to keep doing that. As soon as there's a web app store that allows them to achieve a better cost/revenue ratio, they'll move away from native apps. Sure, web apps have inferior user experiences, but the difference won't be big enough to keep them on the native platforms, just like how it didn't keep them on the native desktop.
Comments
This could be extended to say "Today, Development Sucks." Today, not only do you need a web-accessible application to stay competitive, you best develop native iPhone and Android apps. Even better, whip together a native Mac app.
You think both client-side and server-side validation is bad? Try developing 4 different client-side applications on different languages and frameworks.
Evernote came out and said it attributed part of its success to developing native apps for Android, iPhone and now Mac. Adobe Air and HTML provide an inferior user experience on respective devices.
This is also the reason I feel 37Signals is falling into obsolescence. They just launched a mobile "site" for Basecamp. Not an app, but an HTML, mobile-optimized site. Their blog admits to simply wanting to focus at "what they are good at" which is the first foot in the obsolesce coffin. They hired an iOS developer for their Highrise iPhone app, but said they felt the talent should be in-house for future projects. I agree, but their decision, again, was to keep doing the same old thing. Not exactly an innovative, hacker mindset in my opinion.
> Try developing 4 different client-side applications on different languages and frameworks.
People aren't going to keep doing that. As soon as there's a web app store that allows them to achieve a better cost/revenue ratio, they'll move away from native apps. Sure, web apps have inferior user experiences, but the difference won't be big enough to keep them on the native platforms, just like how it didn't keep them on the native desktop.