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From the draft archives. This is a post I started over ten years ago but never got around to finishing. It discusses my reaction to someone telling me the web was dead and that mobile was taking over. Their argument was that apps would replace websites. I disagreed. I have left the majority untouched, cleaning up the language a bit. I left some final thoughts at the end.

Someone told me recent that the web is dead and that the future is mobile. What they really meant was that browsing the web with a traditional web browser is dead. But they’re wrong, all that has really happened is that mobile devices have just now become viable options for accessing the vast amount of information and resources available on the Internet. The web isn’t dead, mobile devices just don’t suck anymore.

Thanks to the iPhone there has been a major shift in how people think about the web and how mobile devices fit in. The mobile web experience is no longer limited to a simple list of links and no images. It’s fuller and more capable. It’s rich with images, audio and even video. People care about ensuring their information is fully accessible to people on the go and looks great while using small devices. And if a site can’t be massaged to work with the iPhone then a specialized app can be created to ensure the end user has a great experience.

Of course, Apple is no longer the only vendor out there trying to create a great end user experience. The most notable competitor to iPhone is nearly any Android based phone. Android is incredibly young as far as mobile OSs go but already it’s a worthy competitor to Apple’s iOS. Either device is capable of providing a full web experience.

Mobile devices won’t replace the web experience we all know today. They simply extend it. They are extensions to our desktop computers, devices we can use while on the go to keep up on all of the information available to us. The key is to ensure that end users are able to access the information they want in a convenient manner. If that means creating a template for your site or even creating a specific app.

My original post from June 8, 2010

While I don’t believe (and continue to not to believe in 2020) mobile devices will completely replace computers, I do think they will become the primary device for a lot of people.

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Reading headlines like this really emphasizes just how lost Microsoft is right now

Microsoft Tablet OS Not Due Until 2012

This tells me two things.  One, Windows Phone 7 was nothing more than a reaction to iOS.  Two, they had no further strategy than that.

Apparently it simply didn’t occur to them that Apple might take their new mobile operating system and bring it to a tablet device, the same type of device Microsoft has been trying to create *for years* and have failed.  Unfortunately for Microsoft, and everyone else for that matter, Apple doesn’t just have a great mobile OS, they also already have an entire supporting ecosystem adding tremendous value to their mobile OS.

Clearly Microsoft, who has been trying build a tablet people actually want to use for years, simply doesn’t know what they’re doing.  “Redmond, start your copiers” is really real.  You have to feel a little bad for Microsoft.  They’ve been trying for years and Apples launches one out of the park on their first try.  But the difference here is that Apple has their own vision.

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TUAW is reporting that VLC may soon be removed from the App Store because it violates the GPL on the grounds that because the copy downloaded to your device is copy protected using a DRM then it violates the GPL.

I’m not a lawyer, but I don’t think VLC on iOS is in violation of anything so long as the source is available. Just because I can’t copy the compiled program doesn’t mean it violates the GPL. It comes down to the source code itself. In a sense, a version of VLC compiled for older PPC Mac systems also violates the GPL because I can’t copy the binary from an PPC system to an Intel system or even from a Mac to a PC. Further, you’d never copy the program files from one Windows PC to another because it’s far easier to download the installer and install it. So goes with VLC on an iPod or iPhone, it’s easier to just install it from the App Store, it’s free after all.