My two latest HTML5 apps, http://appeio.com for App.net which made it into the Apple iOS store and brand brand new http://podglass.com which is my personal solution to podcast headaces.. and a reason to start pushing boundaries with <audio> and <video>.
It's getting there, in two years a good HTML5 app will be very close and in some situations a better choice. Native will improve also but browser tech is due to leap by 2014.
iOS will have a good run and so will Android but the web is open and will never get obsoleted.
I've upgraded my account and am going to take a spin at a html5 app. It's an interesting group of people and even if it does not get massive scale it's fun.
Also keep in mind that I don't think app.net wants to be Twitter, it wants to be the back end public messaging system for any and all kinds of apps that have a need for a messaging or notification network.
Bring on touch screens with print scanners. I really hate login/pass. I realize in away the more secure the token the more private it can become but the screens could at least check for a pulse too. (it's late)
It's a boon of new money and fresh funded interests to the community. Better for everyone but I would not have gone public. (limited actual knowledge of real world pressures.. but still. They were not in control and give up more.
It is not your thing if it's everyone's thing and when everyone is bored of their thing. Well...
John C Dvorak has a theory, I am not sure if it is just his about cycles and a predicted pattern of events going back to the 1600's that indicates a dip in things starting in 2017.
Personally I am an optimist and think that as a whole we will continue to persevere and generally get it right more often, with more free information, we learn faster and eventually we evolve our outlook and efforts for the better.
Not because we want to, it's something about our species and tenacity to survive happy.
Go to Mars. I'll at least watch the video. We need the wild west with space helmets. We need big impossible goals. Or else it's just us here talking and warring over one marble running out of raw materials.
I am encouraged by the recent progresses. The upcoming rover landing is a big test. If they can master robotic rocket landings and material transport on the surface we are making progress.
My wife has set a rule that no children we have are allowed to leave the planet before they are 18.
I still would like to know what Valve and Blizzard have encountered with Win8 that makes it trouble. I have not had any problems with Steam and WoW. Maybe they do mean drivers though..
I've dealt with people at App.net during my own development projects (Infostripe) and they seem one of the few who were good at communicating back. They even featured IS at one point.
Which might go to explain how they are apparently excellent at putting themselves in the news as an heir to Twitter and a major Facebook competitor. Yet aren't actually either of those things. At least so far.. fascinating.
I think the hate is a bit reactionary and the popular argument to take because well it's the Internet and seemingly hates change.
The Metro layer is the most useful Start Menu yet and the Explorer / Desktop ui is there as usual, faster than ever. It certainly is a presentation change when you first load it up but I predict that most people will get the hang of it pretty quickly. I did. I don't feel much of a disconnect honestly. It's just a bit different but not in a bad way overall.
It's a OS ready for new / touch devices yet to come and will probably run apps from 1990 if you really need it. Windows 7 was the perfection of Windows 95 and this feels like the progress that comes after that.
QR codes are apart of our strategy at Infostripe. For free (in beta) you get a web app designed to connect everything about your presence online, a virtual business card. Put the generated QR code on your business card, badge or home screen and bring it all together. It's worth a look. http://infostripe.com
We really like QR codes and hope for a day when smartphone software gets built in scanning and seeking.
From my personal experience you have to keep at it. We are a small team (http://infostripe.com) and we go in cycles of development and promotion. Throughout our beta as we reached each major milestone we have turned to journalists and tech blogs for coverage. With varying degrees of success.
Honestly it's hard to get attention when you are small, without major funding or in the right network circles. But we have pushed on and with each major update we get a little more traction with coverage and learn from our efforts. Our users love us but convincing the filters that be that we are worth their 500 words is a challenge that we underestimated. Thanks for your post, there are some good points in there and has provoked some interested responses.
Check out http://infostripe.com Giving flash heavy restaurant sites a mobile option for customers was one of the design objectives. We are making great progress in the local area restaurants, mostly because it's free but also it's easy for the owners to setup and manage themselves.