Webapps are the key to unlocking the Living Web
Okay so maybe you've heard of the The Internet of Things (IoT) or maybe you heard it referred to as The Living Web? It's been quite the topic in tech circles for several years now. But that's just it, it's been talk. The friction between various devices and proprietary app stores and apps of different languages has smoldered the IoT talk, until now....
Imagine the website to be the horse and buggy. Back when that's all that people had, it was the 'perfect' means to travel, share and communicate. But then Steve Jobs came along and told us that 'There's an app for that!'. (Now imagine Steam Car!) At that time, it was pretty cool and I was one of the many who ran out and purchased an iPhone. In fact, I purchased it off eBay unlocked and jailbroken! And I got several apps for that, to be truthful. But, it didn't take long before I was annoyed I wasn't allowed to surf the web, I was allowed to surf 'some' of the web. Though I understood this was as much or more Microsoft's fault (Silverlight and Flash alliances), I was nonetheless super happy to get a hold of my first Android device. "Freedom..."
But, now there was a new problem and it sure was familiar wasn't it? I had an app for that, but my daughter using iPhone didn't have that app. She had an app for that, but only if you had 'this'. It didn't take the mobile phone world too long before its usual direction towards profit had encapsulated its users and separated people. And although they were nearly a decade late to the party, even Microsoft showed up to the dance sporting different, incompatible code. They danced alone while Android folk sang from Google Music and iPhone folk sang from their iTunes.
Enter the Webapp, exit separatism and enter something even more amazing... The chance for the entire world to come together and be as one, no longer incompatible with one another! That's pretty cool if you think about it but that's just the philosophical tip of the treats this new movement shall present.
The Internet of Things is going to be the next big thing. "Now, there's an app for ALL." - Ken W. Button
Enter the Webapp; dancing on the universal platform. Although a great case could be made that the 'biggest winners' of this pending Internet revolution (Webapps) is us, the people, I believe it will be even more impacting for objects in our lives, which yes - affects us.
The toaster, the refrigerator, the car, the movie theater, the stores we shop, the stores we pass, the things we pass by everyday, they will 'all of them', soon have a voice like never before, as they #UseThePlatform. (Little foreshadowing of the logos rhetoric you'll soon be hearing a lot about.)
The problem with the Internet of Things pre-Webapps goes beyond one issue. In fact, it's many, many issues cascading on top of one another such that nobody, including programmers, could get out of bed to think about it let alone build upon the idea. There was simply too much friction... Small businesses and private individuals - even big businesses - didn't have the time, patience nor the money to setup apps for every OS (recall Steam Car) and then go about marketing them to the world. (Because they are not discoverable on the web via search unless you're using a particular proprietary web store and phone)
So... We couldn't search for these apps. (Steam Cars were not very accessible to the masses...) But even if we could... Did you want them asking you all those permissions? Camera, location, etc... How about the memory they wanted to take on your phone? How about the battery life of your phone? Me neither... Mobile apps to me became something of spam on my phone and I went out of my way to get a Nexus 6p so I could get by on that pure Google (my battery after six hours away from the charger is still over 85% - way to be Googley, Google!).
Enter Webapps; the future of the web - today! And wow... are they cool. "Would you like to add this site / app to your homescreen?" *No permissions required. Oh... and Webapps are on a serious diet! They're one of those vegan type except instead of not eating meat, they detest MB's. They like simple HTML5 code and can run all day on that, a little CSS and a dabble here and there of JavaScript. They'll survive on KB's but MB's make them fat quickly and they've found nobody wants to dance with ('Add to homescreen') a fat webapp... Even if it is just a shortcut to a full screen experience so much like a Mobile App, you'll think it is a mobile app =) shhh.... Let's not upset those "Instant Apps" folk over there in Android world who are trying to solve the problem from the wrong direction, they are cute and I love them. They will contribute to webapps at some point and I'm sure they'll bring something worthy to the webapp table when they arrive.
So how do these lovely new webapps unlock the Living Web / The Internet of Things? Well... Small, medium and large businesses of all sizes and shapes can afford a website right? Webapps are on the best nutritional plan available and just as affordable as websites have been for businesses. So businesses can get webapps - now.
And! Now objects around us will begin to come to life with push notifications when we are in proximity. They will be smart too! You'll swipe away things you don't like (the laundry mat offering a special on laundry for the weekend) in favor of the things you do like (Best Buy throws out a beacon to notify people driving by about their awesome sale on Google Chromebooks - I'm so there...). Soon, Google Assistant begins to realize you're not interested in objects like 'that' but you're super intrigued and willing to check into objects like 'that-different'.
Webapps are discoverable by ALL of us who search the web, but we can also be discovered by webapps as we pass by them! Now that's a conversation (or handshake you geek folk) that's not only doable, but highly likely! Meanwhile, I can't even search nor would I want to search the Microsoft mobile store sporting my Nexus 6p!
And where does this all come from? It's the pure, open web baby, sporting a fine suit of HTML5, some slick CSS and progressively enhanced JavaScript, for those folk who like to surf a more modern browser.
Not sure anyone will read this nor will they give two searches about it but I thought it would be neat to share my opinion on what webapps mean to the Internet of Things. Point blank... Webapps are the lifeblood of The Living Web and soon you'll be seeing what I'm seeing... "The Web! It's Alive !!!" (Nexus 6p users running latest marshmallow are already getting the notifications from the web and from the stores such as Walmart and Best Buy and Bob Evans...)
The friction-less, Unified Application Platform of the World (UAPW - not to be confused with the group that took down Detroit) is here and wow is it some exciting stuff! Would love to hear thoughts on this, feel free to comment below.
One last thing! The Webapp represents the gas car without the negative petroleum connotation...
And, I'd love to help put one in 'every' businesses garage.
Imagine the website to be the horse and buggy. Back when that's all that people had, it was the 'perfect' means to travel, share and communicate. But then Steve Jobs came along and told us that 'There's an app for that!'. (Now imagine Steam Car!) At that time, it was pretty cool and I was one of the many who ran out and purchased an iPhone. In fact, I purchased it off eBay unlocked and jailbroken! And I got several apps for that, to be truthful. But, it didn't take long before I was annoyed I wasn't allowed to surf the web, I was allowed to surf 'some' of the web. Though I understood this was as much or more Microsoft's fault (Silverlight and Flash alliances), I was nonetheless super happy to get a hold of my first Android device. "Freedom..."
But, now there was a new problem and it sure was familiar wasn't it? I had an app for that, but my daughter using iPhone didn't have that app. She had an app for that, but only if you had 'this'. It didn't take the mobile phone world too long before its usual direction towards profit had encapsulated its users and separated people. And although they were nearly a decade late to the party, even Microsoft showed up to the dance sporting different, incompatible code. They danced alone while Android folk sang from Google Music and iPhone folk sang from their iTunes.
Enter the Webapp, exit separatism and enter something even more amazing... The chance for the entire world to come together and be as one, no longer incompatible with one another! That's pretty cool if you think about it but that's just the philosophical tip of the treats this new movement shall present.
The Internet of Things is going to be the next big thing. "Now, there's an app for ALL." - Ken W. Button
Enter the Webapp; dancing on the universal platform. Although a great case could be made that the 'biggest winners' of this pending Internet revolution (Webapps) is us, the people, I believe it will be even more impacting for objects in our lives, which yes - affects us.
The toaster, the refrigerator, the car, the movie theater, the stores we shop, the stores we pass, the things we pass by everyday, they will 'all of them', soon have a voice like never before, as they #UseThePlatform. (Little foreshadowing of the logos rhetoric you'll soon be hearing a lot about.)
The problem with the Internet of Things pre-Webapps goes beyond one issue. In fact, it's many, many issues cascading on top of one another such that nobody, including programmers, could get out of bed to think about it let alone build upon the idea. There was simply too much friction... Small businesses and private individuals - even big businesses - didn't have the time, patience nor the money to setup apps for every OS (recall Steam Car) and then go about marketing them to the world. (Because they are not discoverable on the web via search unless you're using a particular proprietary web store and phone)
So... We couldn't search for these apps. (Steam Cars were not very accessible to the masses...) But even if we could... Did you want them asking you all those permissions? Camera, location, etc... How about the memory they wanted to take on your phone? How about the battery life of your phone? Me neither... Mobile apps to me became something of spam on my phone and I went out of my way to get a Nexus 6p so I could get by on that pure Google (my battery after six hours away from the charger is still over 85% - way to be Googley, Google!).
Enter Webapps; the future of the web - today! And wow... are they cool. "Would you like to add this site / app to your homescreen?" *No permissions required. Oh... and Webapps are on a serious diet! They're one of those vegan type except instead of not eating meat, they detest MB's. They like simple HTML5 code and can run all day on that, a little CSS and a dabble here and there of JavaScript. They'll survive on KB's but MB's make them fat quickly and they've found nobody wants to dance with ('Add to homescreen') a fat webapp... Even if it is just a shortcut to a full screen experience so much like a Mobile App, you'll think it is a mobile app =) shhh.... Let's not upset those "Instant Apps" folk over there in Android world who are trying to solve the problem from the wrong direction, they are cute and I love them. They will contribute to webapps at some point and I'm sure they'll bring something worthy to the webapp table when they arrive.
So how do these lovely new webapps unlock the Living Web / The Internet of Things? Well... Small, medium and large businesses of all sizes and shapes can afford a website right? Webapps are on the best nutritional plan available and just as affordable as websites have been for businesses. So businesses can get webapps - now.
And! Now objects around us will begin to come to life with push notifications when we are in proximity. They will be smart too! You'll swipe away things you don't like (the laundry mat offering a special on laundry for the weekend) in favor of the things you do like (Best Buy throws out a beacon to notify people driving by about their awesome sale on Google Chromebooks - I'm so there...). Soon, Google Assistant begins to realize you're not interested in objects like 'that' but you're super intrigued and willing to check into objects like 'that-different'.
Webapps are discoverable by ALL of us who search the web, but we can also be discovered by webapps as we pass by them! Now that's a conversation (or handshake you geek folk) that's not only doable, but highly likely! Meanwhile, I can't even search nor would I want to search the Microsoft mobile store sporting my Nexus 6p!
And where does this all come from? It's the pure, open web baby, sporting a fine suit of HTML5, some slick CSS and progressively enhanced JavaScript, for those folk who like to surf a more modern browser.
Not sure anyone will read this nor will they give two searches about it but I thought it would be neat to share my opinion on what webapps mean to the Internet of Things. Point blank... Webapps are the lifeblood of The Living Web and soon you'll be seeing what I'm seeing... "The Web! It's Alive !!!" (Nexus 6p users running latest marshmallow are already getting the notifications from the web and from the stores such as Walmart and Best Buy and Bob Evans...)
The friction-less, Unified Application Platform of the World (UAPW - not to be confused with the group that took down Detroit) is here and wow is it some exciting stuff! Would love to hear thoughts on this, feel free to comment below.
One last thing! The Webapp represents the gas car without the negative petroleum connotation...
And, I'd love to help put one in 'every' businesses garage.
I realize something I didn't back when I wrote this in May... The reason for "Instant apps" is likely due to the secret war between a company wanting to continue the revenue stream from mobile apps and a company wanting to make information accessible to everyone - regardless of race, religion, wealth, OS or device. This secret war means we're dealing with some of those things from the past... You recall things not working right with Firefox and other browsers but it sure worked on IE? It's that again... Web standards are set and a company browser isn't following them - again... They have this 'we own a certain share of the market in an area proprietary to us and we'll not relinquish our control". So... Google is fighting the battle on both fronts =) Instant Apps are the means by which Google is pushing from both directions to get the web - and people - liberated from things that isolate and group and seclude us all. You can't very well make information accessible to everyone when you've got some old school monopolistic profit tactics running wild ruining the come together party. Who's going to win this battle? Well... Unlike Microsoft, Apple sees the WMD's in front of them. Microsoft didn't know they were in a war until it was all over and their browser now sits with 25% market share and they can no longer bully developers to make their 'Microsoft html code'. The WMD's shot them down... (Weapons of Monopoly Destruction - Interesting the Government of the US tried to take them down and only made them stronger. Google has always had our back and they knew well the issues and problems caused by this blatant disregard of the official web standards.) But Apple... They understand they are in a war - and every time one of these progressive web apps doesn't ask users to 'add to homescreen' new pwa developers are going to get very upset... Apple will fold at some point - the questions is... will it be too late? Microsoft has joined the 'we'll play along with an 'us' scenario now' and I've seen them getting a little love and thanks here and there for it. Hell, I'm no longer pissed off at them - wow! I think Microsoft is cute now. This is a bittersweet post as I admire Steve Jobs greatly - and even Google has seen the value of closed systems with Android being bastardized by providers and tarnishing the Android name with their bloat. (Nexus 6p was the start but Pixel is the real deal - we're done with third party quality control...)
ReplyDelete