[point]

Web apps were a temporary fad. They are good for some type of applications that are similar to document based (e.g facebook, flickr, HN news), but for others, web apps are terrible (twitter, photo editing, making phone calls).

There is space for both types, and web apps are not going to replace desktop apps.

[adamc]

I think "fad" is a little strong. Plenty of folks are using gmail and Google docs, for example.

I do think there are limitatations to running in a browser; World of Warcraft isn't likely to do so anytime soon. But I don't see any reason to believe that more apps need a desktop environment than don't. Rather, I see web browsers gradually getting more and more capable (especially within organizations that can make the choice to skip IE compatibility).

[ryanwaggoner]

Were? Even if they are part of a fad, it's pretty clear that the fad is still in full swing.

[point]

It's totally dying. I got the memo, maybe you're further down the line than me. Wait a year or two, the memo will arrive at your desk soon.

[brand]

There's no need to be rude about it. What makes twitter better on the desktop than the web?

[point]

Comfort.

[dasil003]

Everything except the first sentence is right. Normal people have always used computers mostly for document-oriented work. Just the consumption of text on the web is probably dwarfing actual real productivity in GUI applications.

Sure, web-based application sacrifice A LOT. But in return you get dead-simple, cross-platform, accessible (sometimes), no-install apps. What would the GUI developers of 20 years ago trade for those benefits?

[gibsonf1]

The fact that my webapp has literally doubled my profit margin last year makes me think that web apps are a trend with legs.

[blader]

They are good for some type of applications that are similar to document based (e.g facebook, flickr, HN news), but for others, web apps are terrible (twitter, photo editing, making phone calls).

I'd like to know why you think this is true.

That observation may be true today, but it is getting less and less true every day. The evolution of technology infrastructure over the past decade has been in the direction of making web applications more and more powerful. (Javascript, Flash) The overarching trend points to web apps taking over the domain of desktop apps inch by inch.

Name any popular desktop app and I can more likely than not point to some company or other porting it to the browser.

[gpmedia]

I definitively believe that there is a future for webb apps. Looking at icloud.com, a "web os", you'll find that there is a potential for many apps to migrate to the web.

We have seen that browsers are getting better at rendering JS, i.e. Google Chrome and Firefox 3.1, meanwhile functionality such as Canvas introduces possibilities of creating more elaborate apps that might require photo editing etc.