I do think web apps have become much better indeed.
I believe there is a few reasons:
- the reliance on clouds for many people, so it becomes more convenient to load your data in a browser window than fetch it locally
- the mixing of UI elements and data makes for more flexible software because the boundaries are not strong for many applications, data can be UI as well
- the inherent lock in and facilitation of licence management for the developer. A web software can't be pirate in any meaningful way to it's easier to require people to pay
- the large improvements in computing power that makes lower performance of the web software almost a non-issue for an increasingly large amount of applications
- and of course the major optimisations the stack has received, enabling better software overtime
Apple is still pushing the local first with native UI software in the name of privacy but at the same time they are also pushing cloud stuff and are not very competitive cost wise.
There is still some use cases where local first is necessary, like video editing and its large files, that Apple target quite well. But it's not clear how long that is going to last. Even resident fiber connections have increased speed quite a lot and if you can ingest a remote server fast enough, it won't matter that much if it's local. The UI just has to stream the data view in real time fast enough, which is already fine with most fiber connections.
The major issue is latency but that is becoming much better with router upgrade and data center placed at key geographical places to serve most people well.
I would root for the "Apple way" if they would keep the personal computer that you fully control philosophy but instead, they are pushing "services" stuff for revenue just like the others. You end up paying more for not many benefits.
This is the problem with the iPhone as well, because in theory you could use it without iCloud but in practice many of the features rely heavily on it and they have made zero investment in local first use case. This can be seen in the absolutely abysmal transfer speed of a wired iPhone (still USB 2 for most models, like WTF) and just generally terrible syncing if you don't use iCloud. We are very far from the iLife promise of Steve Jobs and it just doesn't make any sense to overpay for them to hold all the control.
I believe there is a few reasons:
- the reliance on clouds for many people, so it becomes more convenient to load your data in a browser window than fetch it locally
- the mixing of UI elements and data makes for more flexible software because the boundaries are not strong for many applications, data can be UI as well
- the inherent lock in and facilitation of licence management for the developer. A web software can't be pirate in any meaningful way to it's easier to require people to pay
- the large improvements in computing power that makes lower performance of the web software almost a non-issue for an increasingly large amount of applications
- and of course the major optimisations the stack has received, enabling better software overtime
Apple is still pushing the local first with native UI software in the name of privacy but at the same time they are also pushing cloud stuff and are not very competitive cost wise.
There is still some use cases where local first is necessary, like video editing and its large files, that Apple target quite well. But it's not clear how long that is going to last. Even resident fiber connections have increased speed quite a lot and if you can ingest a remote server fast enough, it won't matter that much if it's local. The UI just has to stream the data view in real time fast enough, which is already fine with most fiber connections. The major issue is latency but that is becoming much better with router upgrade and data center placed at key geographical places to serve most people well.
I would root for the "Apple way" if they would keep the personal computer that you fully control philosophy but instead, they are pushing "services" stuff for revenue just like the others. You end up paying more for not many benefits.
This is the problem with the iPhone as well, because in theory you could use it without iCloud but in practice many of the features rely heavily on it and they have made zero investment in local first use case. This can be seen in the absolutely abysmal transfer speed of a wired iPhone (still USB 2 for most models, like WTF) and just generally terrible syncing if you don't use iCloud. We are very far from the iLife promise of Steve Jobs and it just doesn't make any sense to overpay for them to hold all the control.