Chapter 18. The Convergence of Local, Social, and Mobile, Part 4: The Convergence

This is the fourth part in a four-part series. You can read Part 1 here, Part 2 here, and Part 3 here.

In September 2010, Wired Magazine ran a cover story with the bombastic title The Web Is Dead. Long Live the Internet. Needless to say, the piece was met with raucous debate about the validity of the viewpoint. If you read the article, you’ll remember that the numbers are tough to argue with. The way the Internet is utilized has shifted from web browser traffic to distributed applications that run on devices such as the iPhone, iPad, Android, and even your desktop (Tweetdeck, anyone?).

For web developers (of which I was one for 12 years), the pronouncement of the death of the Web is understandably troubling. I also think it’s a great way to sell magazines, which was unquestionably the intent of Wired’s editors. I’m not willing to go so far as to say that the browser is an antiquated piece of technology, waiting to wither up and pass on into obscurity, and I believe HTML5 could provide a much-needed boost to the admittedly clunky user experience the browser provides.

Furthermore, we still spend a tremendous amount of time with desktops or laptops, either at the office or at home. Corporations around the world are not likely to toss an iPad and iPhone at you and tell you to do your job—at least not anytime soon. And desktop apps are much more complicated to build since the expectations surrounding ...

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