[flohofwoe]

You're right, its more about software, less about content (but the line between software and content is blurry anyway). But it is becoming harder and harder to actually distribute software to user's desktops or mobile devices since these platforms have either been closed from the beginning (iOS, game consoles), or are quickly starting to become closed (OSX, Windows8). You can no longer simply send a download link to your users, or have your own download website with a 3rd party payment provider. The user has to jump through a comical amount of hoops to get the app running (Do you really want to run this extremely dangerous software downloaded from the interwebs? Administration rights are needed to install this software!, etc etc etc etc... its a travesty).

Everything has to go through the centralised, closely guarded app shops. You'll have to go through silly certification processes to get your app into the app shop and if the platform owners (or some minion working in certification) feels like it, they can just remove your app without warning.

Compare this to a web app. You deploy the stuff on a web server of your choice, the user clicks on a link. Done.