What is Digg?72 Comments
- jayakamonty, on 07/20/2009, -1/+123How can something that relies on the Internet be bigger than the Internet itself? Hmmm....
- presidentraygun, on 07/20/2009, -1/+57This is like the car being bigger than the road.... it don't work.
- LinuxPerson, on 07/20/2009, -1/+35Hate to say it but this is a step in the wrong direction. Platform dependent applications on mobile phones keeps us locked into a specific device.
- mdude85, on 07/20/2009, -1/+20I don't buy the idea that someone can predict the popularity of a currently available technology more than 10 years down the line. Does anyone remember Time magazine's annual tech trends issue in 1999? I'll run down the top 10 for you:
1. Ebay - still here
2. Dreamcast - dead
3. Mp3 - still here, sort of
4. Sim City 3000 - wtf
5. Palm VII
6. Everquest
7. Google.com - OK
8. Omikron - wtf
9. Linux - still only 1% of the market
10. The Onion - still here, ftw
IN 1999 there was no such thing as a smart phone as it exists today. The Blackberry as we know it today was just a 2-way pager in 1999. And Apple was a company doomed to failure. So a lot can change in 10 years. Trying to make predictions is just dumb. Next! - KboT, on 07/20/2009, -1/+14The fact that this article exists on the internet, in addition to the actual apps themselves using the internet as their distribution infrastructure, proves the title of this article retarded.
- appleofdischord, on 07/20/2009, -1/+10If free porn apps occur then yes. Otherwise, no.
- Rudegar, on 07/20/2009, -0/+9yeah look what happend to hummer
- breckinshire, on 07/20/2009, -0/+8And, dude, why do we, like, drive on a parkway and park on a driveway?
Just kidding, it's actually an astute observation you made. - ADifferentUsern, on 07/20/2009, -1/+8Like Sally Struthers. And her appetite.
- AndrewMoyer, on 07/20/2009, -0/+7Eh, it's kinda an arbitrary distinction. Most of the "apps" still talk to servers over the internet, and web pages are basically config files and scripts that are parsed by an "app" (aka the browser). If an app implements a markup or scripting language... config file, or some JavaScript or whatever... it's really not all that different than being a web page anyways.
HTML has been slow to adapt lately, but HTML5 and continuing browser improvements are slated to keep web pages in the picture for as long as we can imagine. The competition between Apple, Mozilla, and Microsoft is a strong innovation driver.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Wide_Web
"As of March 2009, the indexable web contains at least 25.21 billion pages. On July 25, 2008, Google software engineers Jesse Alpert and Nissan Hajaj announced that Google Search had discovered one trillion unique URLs."
Apps will not be bigger than the internet. - inactive, on 07/20/2009, -0/+6I doubt they were saying that the Dreamcast had a 10 year life span.
That said I play mine regularly. Because I'm better than you. - eatporktoo, on 07/20/2009, -4/+10Am I the only person that finds it amusing that modern day computers were built to run applications and now everything is transitioning to the Internet and the iPhone was built for Internet apps and is transitioning to native apps?
- ontain, on 07/20/2009, -1/+6quite a set backwards IMO.
why give up the openness of the internet (www) for closed platforms with company controlled applications?
Apple's been very good at selling it's 1980's ideas for locked software to hardware to the masses. - boothash, on 07/20/2009, -0/+4Guy who sells things says the products he's selling will be the biggest thing ever!
- Rudegar, on 07/20/2009, -0/+4if they change their 1 app for each couple policies! :P
- pwner, on 07/20/2009, -0/+3it will be bought by china?
- LinuxPerson, on 07/20/2009, -1/+4Yes but my point is that this distracts from innovating web technologies. We won't make any great leaps in the world of application development until web based applications can bring us the same level of performance as native applications.
Why do you think there has been a push for the past decade to migrate to web applications? - LinuxPerson, on 07/20/2009, -0/+3"Also, what happens if I'm out of cell range?"
Exactly my point. With local applications, there is little incentive for private companies to innovate. Why spend billions covering every square inch of the world with wireless signal when they can go the cheaper route that guarantees higher profitability?
It works out great for companies like Apple who gain market share early and get everybody locked into their devices. It does not, however, work out great for the consumer.
"You'll never see web applications catch up to, or surpass, locally compiled applications in terms of performance.
learn2computerscience"
That is a very naive statement. Most applications now a days come in binaries, no need to compile... Granted with today's web you are right, but my point is about encouraging web innovation, which local apps do not. - chedabob, on 07/20/2009, -0/+3There's far too much variation in phones for there to be one solitary platform. Web apps can't provide the processing power native apps can, and even with a framework like Native Client, it'd still be far too difficult to get the proper performance from a web app.
- borez, on 07/20/2009, -0/+3Yes.
- jebus123, on 07/20/2009, -2/+5Makes as much sense as: web browsers to be bigger than Internet
- rjc5056, on 07/20/2009, -1/+4Since I don't have to pay for visiting specific sites on the web, I fail to see how apps are the more alluring choice here.
- GeorgeStone2, on 07/20/2009, -0/+3Breaking news:Stay at home mother and part time analyst of "stuff" makes wild predictions about ***** she doesn't understand.
- covertbadger, on 07/20/2009, -0/+2The headline is clearly a quotation and is punctuated appropriately, and the last part of the article is a counter-argument from a Google vice-president. I'd say that's presenting both sides of the argument rather than biased sensationalism. And which bit of the article is the opinion of the journalist?
- 7aji, on 07/21/2009, -0/+2such a dumb title for the Digg post.
- MrJagil, on 07/20/2009, -1/+3I don't know who she is, but i find it funny.
- insanebrain, on 07/20/2009, -2/+4doesn't
- whitesaint, on 07/20/2009, -0/+2I wouldn't necessarily say that iPhone is built for internet apps, but much more so for native apps that can also take advantage of the internet (and other features) if necessary. While this was not evident at first and no one saw it coming, the rapid application development environment was there all along. While the original iPhone "ran on OS X", no one really expected that it had OS X's massive object frameworks; for instance the Foundation kit is almost exactly the same, while Application kit has redesigned interface objects for the UI kit. And when the original apps were built (calendar, mail, notes, etc), the developers knew they were writing them in Cocoa, and knew they were going to make the SDK public at some point.
- Snakedal337, on 07/20/2009, -1/+2Whats a Mobile Industry Expert and what degree do I need to become one?
- mizike, on 07/20/2009, -0/+1AAAH THESE GIGANTIC APES WILL DEVOUR US ALL!!!
/purposely mis-read title
//god I'm bored - ripple123, on 07/20/2009, -0/+1you, sir, are saying what i came here to say. and that makes you awesome.
- EllisSpice, on 07/20/2009, -0/+1AudioBoo, 12Seconds the list goes on.
I hope that answers that. - Sefus, on 07/21/2009, -0/+1*****
- Ne007, on 07/20/2009, -0/+1This does not compute.
- intothelight7, on 07/20/2009, -0/+1Says the company that makes apps.
- doshindude, on 07/20/2009, -0/+1I still use my Palm Tungsten E2!
- GeorgeStone2, on 07/20/2009, -1/+2"Mobile industry expert" is like being an analyst.
It's a service that no one actually wants, yet anyone can do. - lpcustom, on 07/20/2009, -0/+1"Apps" has always meant "applications". Are we not dubbing only "mobile applications" apps?
- BossKey, on 07/20/2009, -0/+1I used to think like you, and on a laptop/desktop, I still agree. In most cases a web browser is preferable to an app/widget, on the desktop.
On the phone, I no longer agree. I am finding that even when a website has a CSS version optimized for the phone, the app version usually provides a much better experience. I think the difference in screen size negates the web browser experience in favor of an app that merges with the phone's own UI and hardware capabilities and is optimized for mobile tasks. On my iPhone, I really appreciate the apps that integrate the data-service functions of a web site with the location sensor, compass, contact list, direct phone dialing, and native UI/API.
For example, yesterday I was looking up sporting goods stores near my location. I did a search and it showed me one on a map. I used the link to go to the web site, and pushed the little screen around for a few seconds to find where the phone number was on the web page. I was about to memorize and then dial the phone number when I said, this is ridiculous. I went back to the map and clicked the link that displayed the search result *in the app*, and the app showed me just the few pieces of critical contact info that would be most useful when mobile (address, phone...). And the phone number was a button. I pressed it and it dialed the store. That's what the web site was incapable of doing for me, instead making me waste time on a phone. - SuperMoses, on 07/20/2009, -0/+1Nice Dennis Miller type reference.
- damack, on 07/20/2009, -0/+1It's a pretty good observation really.
Computing can nearly be defined by "Before the internet" and "After the internet"
Fact of the matter is the internet has really shaken things up and I think it is still evolving.
Our current operating systems are based on designs that existed pre-internet and to the average facebook/twitter user the internet is practically all they need on their computers.
Now that the internet is spreading to mobile devices as well it seems like it doesn't matter what operating system you are running as long as you have access to hte internet. I think with the way the internet is becoming more powerful it's not hard to imagine the future we won't need local storage we will interact with content on some server far away.
The things with the apps is quite interesting as well but I think the two will work together more than anything - inactive, on 07/20/2009, -0/+1Well that sucks.
- piieerrrree, on 07/20/2009, -0/+1as far as I'm concerned, apps can go suck it :V
- Jaime2000, on 07/20/2009, -0/+1Good news guys! The next bubble is here.
- deezeejoey, on 07/20/2009, -1/+2Pass.. I don't need a damn app for everything. I just need a good web browser.
- redsox59, on 07/21/2009, -0/+1Software as a Service -- look it up
- CaughtThinking, on 07/20/2009, -0/+1Digg down for incorrect spelling of pun.
- ADifferentUsern, on 07/20/2009, -1/+2Yes. What he said.
- volcompimp, on 07/20/2009, -0/+1Burried for confusing reads w/ terms like 'mobile applications' with 'apps'.
Obviously some idiot wrote this. I don't even need to mention the title.... - chochazel, on 07/20/2009, -2/+3Remember it's the size of the markets, not the size of the things themselves i.e. their ability to generate revenue. Of course many of the apps still use the internet but it seems that people are willing to pay money to get an app that accesses information that is available on the web for free simply because they like the front end UI (as well as the fact it can access native APIs).
The commercial world has been on a decades long search to monetize the internet - subscriptions having broadly failed, advertising seemed the way to go, but now the App stores seem to have changed all that - it may be the novelty, but for the moment people are actually willing to pay to be able to do stuff again.
The statement is badly written and shouldn't refer to the internet - it should say that native apps could potentially generate more revenue than the conventional browser based world wide web.
Whether that will be true remains to be seen - it seems to be based more on current trends rather than a deeper understanding of the technologies and needs behind them. There'll probably been a lot more convergence between the two (as in the Palm Pre for instance) than this article seems to understand or give credit to. -
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