Browser Or Desktop Apps – The Next Rage

Jonathan Schwartz writes, "The rise of PC software changed the distribution power in business - the distribution network was no longer the physical distribution network, it was displaced by the logical distribution called Microsoft Windows". Consumers used what came bundled into Windows, and got a new slug of functionality each time you upgraded. With the rise of the internet, companies can now bypass Microsoft's legendary distribution power. From eBay to Google to opentable.com, the rise of industry standards allowed services to emerge on an open network platform
With Microsoft about to announce a series of launches in the next few quarters, Jonathan revisits the topic and finds that there are a couple of trends running counter to this looming force -
A. For example - the set top box never gets frequently upgraded & probably may never get upgraded, and suggests that at a certain level, convenience has more value to consumers than the hassle of upgrading, a teenager would be more endeared towards iPod Nano compared to a PC.
B. Users may give up desktop apps in place of browsers
I fully agree with Jeff's view that people use their desktop to create while they use a browser to consume. While there are a number of applications that fully make sense as a hosted app, the bulk of desktop productivity apps just don't make sense as hosted, especially as mobile computing becomes synonymous with desktop. All talk of citywide wi-fi coverage looks impractical when even cell signals are not stable across locations.