'App Versus Web' is the Wrong Question

A non-quantitative survey of experts by researchers at the Pew Internet & American Life Project suggested that both the Web and apps would be significant in the future, and some thought the question of “Web versus apps” didn’t actually make much sense. In a way, it’s a bit like asking whether a "hammer" or a screwdriver" is the better tool; a tool’s value depends on what has to be accomplished. 

One suspects respondents would have similar views had they been asked whether PCs, tablets or smart phones were "more important" than other tools, or whether mobile broadband, Wi-Fi or fixed network broadband access were "more important."

Most respondents suggested the Web would continue to flourish, but most people would routinely use a mix of Web and customized apps. In retrospect, any other result would have been surprising.

More than a third of survey respondents, however, said the Web would be replaced by apps as the primary gateway to information. That largely is a reflection of the increased amount of time people spend interacting with content on smartphones, which for reasons related to screen real estate and input-output methods, benefit from a more-simplified user interface.

In June 2011, researchers reported that time spent on apps outpaced time spent on the desktop or mobile Web. The change reflected a 91-percent increase in time spent with apps between June 2010 and June 2011, researchers noted.

The Gartner Group predicted last December that by 2015 mobile application projects targeting smartphones and tablets will outnumber native PC projects by a ratio of four-to-one, while smart phones and tablets would represent more than 90 percent of the new net growth in device adoption for the coming four years.

Pew researchers, though, saw most respondents expect the functionality and popularity of the Web to strengthen.

Experts said the future will be a blend of the wide-open Web and customized apps, with people using apps and the Web through cloud computing.

Tech experts participating in the survey generally believe the mobile revolution, the popularity of targeted apps, the monetization of online products and services and cloud computing innovations will drive the evolution of our Web.

“Both,” not “either, or” seems to be the dominant way of thinking.