If it's good enough for the desktop, is it good enough for mobile?

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Mark Suster makes a good argument that the way forward for the majority of mobile apps is not on-device applications, but in the cloud and accessed through widgets and browsers. Going down the App for everything: “It is a step backward for our industry. It is a waste for most brands.  It is a channel disguised in business clothing”. A few more quotes below.

"I was attending a major industry conference in Barcelona at the height of the WAP excitement [and]  I was on stage in front of several hundreds of conference attendees.  The moderator asked each of us panelists the asinine question, “tell us what you’re doing about WAP!”  (you know,  as in “tell us what you’re doing about China?” or “tell us what you’re doing about location-based services?”).  The panelists went down the line and like lemmings announced their plans with glee.

It came to me.  With 5 years’ of British sarcasm under my belt I said, “WAP is CRAP.  We’re doing nothing.”  And I refused to say more.

Fast forward a nearly a decade.  I’m now a VC.  Everybody and their mothers are coming into my offices proclaiming that they're developing the latest iPhone App.  Kleiner Perkins launches an iFund.  The new mantra is “what are you doing about the iPhone?”  I have the same gag reflexes.  The model is all wrong."

His thoughts, and drawing on the examples of both Wap and the growth of web based apps and the browser, can be found on his blog. Well worth a Sunday lunchtime read.