News from Macworld Expo, all week at TUAW.This afternoon at the Macworld 2011 Industry forum, the founding editor of Daring Fireball, John Gruber, talked about the web vs. web apps. He likened the difference to that between the Newton and the iPhone, as the Newton was only able to hold information entered manually, while the web-enabled iPhone provides endless content. That's the main reason the iPhone hit big and the Newton didn't.
John made a distinction between HTML, a markup language, and HTTP, which is a protocol that allows programs to use the internet. Without HTTP there would be no App Store. In that sense, Apple is a web company.
The best browsers today are Safari and Google Chrome, both of which are based on Webkit, an open-source web engine introduced at Macworld Expo seven years ago. Gruber believes WebKit is the best framework to build a browser upon. Most mobile browsers are now using WebKit, including Android.
The reason Apple created WebKit was not only to enhance Safari, before which there was no great Mac browser. Rather, it was to encourage the adoption of the web as a baseline common-denominator platform that people could build upon. When Windows was the baseline for the web, Apple was left out. With WebKit, Apple has the advantage of creating this new paradigm and letting others catch up.
Most video plays on HTML5 devices in H.264, which uses the same format as Flash, but Flash is closed and proprietary software from Adobe (if it breaks, Adobe is the only one who can fix it), while HTML5 is open and has become an industry format that any mobile device manufacturer can use.
The App Store is totally closed, and some think that it will extinguish the web, which is under no-one's control, in favor of the market being controlled by one company. This is a false fear. People want both the web and web apps, with one not precluding the other. Apple's apps use the best parts of the web and enhance the experience with enhanced functionality, which benefits everyone.
This is not a real competition with another company, it's a competition with the idea that the web is all you need. Gruber's main wrap-up was that people like both the web and web apps, and this will improve both instead of being an either/or proposition.
Macworld Industry Forum: John Gruber talks about web apps vs. the web originally appeared on TUAW on Wed, 26 Jan 2011 23:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Donna Feldman Jodi Lyn OKeefe Emma Watson Amy Smart Sarah Wynter
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