[mushufasa]

>> In other words: companies and individual developers alike prioritize their business needs over providing value to the users.

I disagree. I would say that web apps are popular because they provide more value. If/when users/companies demand native apps, developers build that instead.

Web apps are easier for users to manage (no installation, no upgrading versions) and instantly cross-platform. Installation is not trivial for a non-technical person, nor an IT manager monitoring and upgrading thousands of PCs and tablets. The natural revenue models fit because the value is recurring -- the subscription means you constantly have installation, upgrades, and data taken care of as a service.

[TeMPOraL]

And I disagree with you; asking for users to "demand" native apps is a cop-out, because no matter how loudly users scream, nobody cares. Voting with your wallet doesn't work in a non-commodity market; the supplier is in control, and you can only take it or leave it.

> Web apps are easier for users to manage (no installation, no upgrading versions) and instantly cross-platform.

That's true, with a caveat that automated, forced updates are not an universal good - both for companies and individuals they're a source of risk and frequent frustrations.

> Installation is not trivial for a non-technical person, nor an IT manager monitoring and upgrading thousands of PCs and tablets.

This was mostly solved a good decade ago. Hello screen [Next>] accept the TOS without reading [Next>] leave default settings [Next>] uncheck the sneaky toolbar some morally deficient people put in [Next>] wait for install to finish [Done]. Sysadmins had a way to batch-install software in a non-interactive way. And these days, even Windows has a package manager that allows scripted installations.

> The natural revenue models fit because the value is recurring -- the subscription means you constantly have installation, upgrades, and data taken care of as a service.

Disagree. Installation is a one-time service, updates are as often undesired as they're not, and "data taken care of as a service" is bundling in something that should stay separate, in a sneaky attempt to lock the user in and ensure a recurring revenue stream. The case is simple: businesses like recurring revenue; everything else is either facilitating or attempting to justify it.

Turning products into services is one of the most annoying and anticonsumer trends of the current age. I get that business customers like it because of accounting reasons, but it's becoming a problem for everyone else. Next thing you know, you'll have to sign a TOS to use your hairdryer as a service.