CellulaR phone APPS are overrated

I had an argument with somebody yesterday about cell phones. His argument was that a cell phone is better if it has more applications available for it. Specifically he was arguing that an iPhone is the be-all-end-all of cellular phone God machines and that all other phone technologies are pointless by comparison.

He's an idiot.

So I don't disagree that the iPhone app store is packed full of "apps" that perform a wide variety of functions. But my point is that most of them are irrelevant if you have a device with a web browser that's actively connected to the internet.

His top 3 apps included google maps, an app for managing his task list, and one that was indispensable while looking for a house - a mortgage calculator. But why do you even need native programs for that when you have the backing of the lovable cuddly internet?

Now I'm not stupid. I understand that there are benefits to having code living on your device. Performance, graphics, and a direct interface into the device inputs/outputs are factors you're going to have much more control over in a native application that you could in a web browser, so I don't expect to see a lot of games or media players or unique tools being able to live in the browser, but I really think those are a small % of the marketplace. Looking at Apple's app's for iphone homepage, they advertise a ton of helpful little apps, but more than half of them are already done on the web, and at least if you use the web-based options, you'll have "cloud storage" and some connectivity with the full version on your full screen broadband-connected computer.

The bigger question is, if you're a developer, why are you developing software for these systems anyway? Don't waste your time learning objective C, build a better website with mobile browsers in mind and be happy that you saved a lot of effort AND can reach a wider market of customers.