On the future (and present) of browsers (p.s.)

Chrome, Firefox, Safari, IE, Opera

After yesterday's post about how, apps aside, browsers really are a big part of our online future, this seemed to fall right in place:

[H]owever exciting the app store might be—there is no rational reason to neglect the most obvious iPad news platform: The website. The chance that you sell your app will only rise if your have a strong presence in the browser—given, that it’s worth the money. Developing an HTML based news app is not just cheaper and faster, it also gives you more editorial and technical control over your contents. More importantly, HTML-apps are in many ways more convenient for the user: They’re easy to use, they’re more medium appropriate and in that sense: more appealing and—they’re free. No long downloads, no “how do I get to…”, no weird crashes, no trouble to share, copy, paste, comment, tweet, link to. They just work.

That's going to become even more apparent as web tech and browser get better. Apps have a head start, but no matter how easy it is to download and install apps, that really is a pain in the ass compared to just-click-and-go.