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Why did the web take over desktop and not mobile?

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Re: Why did the web take over desktop and not mobile?

#291

Post by nsonha »

Razengan wrote: post #241
nsonha wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Anyone can make an app too. After they install some bloated IDE, learn some "tech", and pay the gatekeepers > Maybe buried deep in the 100th page But they can be found and share, as opposed to apps of a non existent category where average people publish what they are working on, their thoughts, or whatever. App Store and Google Play search would crumble at the scale of the number of websites in existence right now…

> After they install some bloated IDE, learn some "tech", and pay the gatekeepers Tell me how making and hosting a website is absolutely free.

But I guess the more important aspect of the word "free" is that no one could gatekeep you from making a website, unlike app stores where there is a review process.

Re: Why did the web take over desktop and not mobile?

#292

Post by ByteJockey »

Razengan wrote: post #242
ByteJockey wrote: post #222

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In their defense they did say required. You've been able to turn off cookies since the beginning in any sort of competent browser.

And you’ve been able to allow or deny apps individual permissions on any sort of competent OS.

I think, since we're talking mobile here, the implication is that the OS is part of the spyware here.

Or I completely screwed up my understanding of this thread. That's also very possible.

Re: Why did the web take over desktop and not mobile?

#293

Post by dTal »

cylinder714 wrote: post #287
dTal wrote: post #215

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You think it's the tiny monitor, but it's really the primitive UI designed for caveman-style point-and-grunt. I've been using a GPD Micro PC extensively over the past few months, which is equipped with a 6" screen, but also - critically - a touchpad and physical thumb keyboard. Guess what, I can do programming, CAD, image editing, the works - everything you can do on a larger machine. The Micro PC proves that we were…

The apotheosis of the netbook? How does it perform with external keyboard, mouse and monitor? Edit: I've been a fan of the netbook concept since well before the term was coined, when the Toshiba Portegé first came out. But my experiences with them, like everyone else, were disappointing. I'd love it if these new units had good performance.

I mean, it's a quad core mobile Intel with 8 gigabytes. It feels snappy. It runs KDE Plasma. Thermals aren't spectacular, and you won't be running any AAA games on it, but it's vastly more capable than the netbooks of yore. I tend to keep it throttled to 6 watts, which means I can keep the fan off all the time.

Re: Why did the web take over desktop and not mobile?

#294

Post by rramadass »

SiVal wrote: post #114
mattlondon wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The real question is how did the web remain relevant while being so far behind this tectonic platform shift? We didn't all shift to to smartphones the instant they became available. It took a while for people to transition to smartphones. Likewise getting an app up and running (in addition to their websites) took time for most businesses, and many probably waited before jumping on the band wagon I am sure everyone…

"I am sure everyone on HN moved [from computers to smartphones] quickly" I may be wrong, but I suspect you have that backwards. My guess is that at least older HNers were slower to shift from powerful but complex creation tools (computers) to easy consumption toys (smartphones) designed for consumers who found computers with files and folders just too darned complicated to use. Until good, portable mapping and good-e…

You are very right.

Once you are used to the power/freedom available on a Laptop/Desktop Computer you could never get comfortable with the restrictions on a Smartphone. The latter is for less tech-savvy people and almost always used as a media consumption device.

Re: Why did the web take over desktop and not mobile?

#295

Post by dTal »

kews wrote: post #274
dTal wrote: post #215

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You think it's the tiny monitor, but it's really the primitive UI designed for caveman-style point-and-grunt. I've been using a GPD Micro PC extensively over the past few months, which is equipped with a 6" screen, but also - critically - a touchpad and physical thumb keyboard. Guess what, I can do programming, CAD, image editing, the works - everything you can do on a larger machine. The Micro PC proves that we were…

That's interesting to me because I've been seeing some people impatient for the PinePhone external keyboard, but I've felt strong doubts I'd use one much.

You might be right. Having also spent time with the Cosmo Communicator, I can vouch that a phone with a keyboard isn't the same thing as a phone-sized laptop. Apart from the hostile platform (which hopefully wouldn't be an issue on the PinePhone), two aspects that make the phone less practical for desktop software are the extremely high aspect ratio, and the lack of any sort of mouse input beyond poking at the screen. These things significantly compromise the desktop experience.

However, I will also say that a touch-type keyboard on a phone is still awesome, and I will certainly be buying a PinePhone+keyboard when it comes out. I live in forlorn hope for the day I can evict Android from my life entirely (the Micro PC does not, alas, make phone calls).

Re: Why did the web take over desktop and not mobile?

#296

Post by ec109685 »

nemothekid wrote: post #207
throw_m239339 wrote: post #188

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would agree with you if not for the fact that a lot of these popular "native apps" are just webpages within a native wrapper, which kind of defeats your argument. Brands and vendors don't like the web because often they cannot 100% control what browsers do, and of course, a browser website cannot get access to the whole contact list, phone numbers and files on a phone device unlike a native app... Installing an app…

> I would agree with you if not for the fact that a lot of these popular "native apps" are just webpages within a native wrapper, which kind of defeats your argument. This doesn't seem true at all. What popular "native" apps are you talking about? The most popular native apps couldn't exist on the web on the early days. YouTube couldn't work on the web due to the dependence on Flash. Instagram couldn't exist without…

Amazon's app is an example.

Re: Why did the web take over desktop and not mobile?

#298

Post by deburo »

I'd like to add that web performance in Android was terrible, last time I had a Nexus 2. Collapsing threads on Hackner News was terribly slow. Any Discourse forum site was almost unusable. Then I switched to an iPhone and it was much better.

Anyway, I just mean that "modern" mobile sites couldn't have taken over native apps on Android. Its web engine is just not performing well enough.

Re: Why did the web take over desktop and not mobile?

#299

Post by dadior »

etaioinshrdlu wrote: post #9

I've been writing a big React app for about a year, it runs really well on mobile too, but it is a bit hamstrung by iOS safari due to some errant touch interactions I've not been able to turn off despite much trying: double tapping, pinching in certain random areas can lead to zooming, and there is no good way for the user to undo it. I'm going to agree that the reason is Apple.

Is this the reason that your app don't work on IOS: https://reactjs.org/blog/2018/05/23/react-v-16-4.html#pointe...

The safari do not support the pointer events.

Re: Why did the web take over desktop and not mobile?

#300

Post by dadior »

dadior wrote: post #299
etaioinshrdlu wrote: post #9

I've been writing a big React app for about a year, it runs really well on mobile too, but it is a bit hamstrung by iOS safari due to some errant touch interactions I've not been able to turn off despite much trying: double tapping, pinching in certain random areas can lead to zooming, and there is no good way for the user to undo it. I'm going to agree that the reason is Apple.

Is this the reason that your app don't work on IOS: https://reactjs.org/blog/2018/05/23/react-v-16-4.html#pointe... The safari do not support the pointer events.

And there are some polyfill for it: 'If your application depends on pointer events, we recommend using a third-party pointer events polyfill.'
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