Web as an app platform

Back in the office today from Future of Web Apps (FOWA) conference in London. It was an interesting conference and it is good to see the notion of what is a web app evolve.

Previously, I think people only saw a web app as a suped-up website, but the reality is that a web app is far more than that.

A web app combines the social, mobile and one-click ease-of-use of an app with the distrbtuion and the reach of the web.

Some have argued the web is dead because of the app. The contrary is true, both the web and the app metaphor will succeed further, and bring more value to the end user, than either would do invididually or locked behind a proprietary stack.

Interesting that Mozilla released its annual report today… I think Mitchell Baker sums up the current situation very well…

Internet  life is changing. We are connecting through more devices. We are living  in apps as well as browsers. We are interacting with friends and  followers and acquaintances. We can experience the Web through a highly  personal, highly customized lens.

The  challenges ahead of us are very real. Mobile platforms are more closed  and more centralized than we have seen in decades. As individuals, we  are losing the ability to act on the Web without permission from large, centralized gatekeepers. We are all being tracked, logged, cataloged,  monetized and turned into products to be sold. We’re seeing the  universal platform of the Web fragmenting back into multiple different  worlds.
State of Mozilla and 2010 Financial Statements | Mitchell’s Blog.