A new web technology for mobile is turning with the help of Google’s chrome, to a standard. Microsoft is killing its own browser for the Chrome. I parallel to the node.js web server technology that os spreading, Google is becoming the standard holder for the entire web.
The main effect is on all internet company, 1st of them Apple, and the internet users crowd, who will all be dependent on one company.
The smartphone revolution, that out broke with the launch on the iPhone back in 2007, haa changed the online world. Web access has become, within a few years to mobile first, at the expense of personal computers. Content access has diverted from browsers, to applications, despite mobile friendly and responsive web sites.
The apps advantages were clear: content at the press of a button, and far quicker loading times, mostly because of the pre-saved interface. Apple, that launched the iPhone with its iTunes experience, has created a closed system to install apps, that made the iPhone unique and itself even a bigger cash cow.
Of all potential competitors, google was the 1st to catch up (while Microsoft larged behind, in what became a strategic mistake), with the Android OS, that was developed in parallel to the iPhone, and by version 2.2 it was able to give a similar experience. Since the android was marketed as a free OS to be installed on any phone, its app store, not requiring a credit card, became much less profitable.
The profits came indirectly using google ads, easily embedded inside android’s apps, allowing google to collect user data.
The difficulty for content owners, because of the user diversion to apps, is the need to convince users to install and frequently update its apps. Without installing, user experience, in a mobile website, is inferior, which makes it more difficult to convince users to get the apps
A relatively new technology named pwa (progressive web apps) solves just that: instead of troubling the casual user that enters the web site with app store referrals, and with app update requests, this new technology lets the user, with a press of a button, to so called download an app, actually saving main web site code locally, *bypassing* app stores. As a browser based service, no app updates are required: the site code is updated upon visiting. security updates are included in browser updates. This way, user experience is much better and closer to that on an app
This new standard, bearly 3 years old, is supported by chrome and Firefox for Android, and lately supported by them for iPhone as well. Apple’s Safari has most recently added its support (as a part of the iOS 11.3 release) . The big winner of this tech is Google, which will gain more users diverting to its browser, at the expense of iPhone’s native apps (it’ll probably be indifferent for the cannibalization of its Android apps). Firefox, even with ita history, has long turned, unfortunately to a niche player
Microsoft has recently joined the chrome trend, as seen in two interesting moves. The 1st is adopting the chromium, Google Chrome’s open source version, as its browser engine for edge, making the edge nothing more than shell. the 2nd, though small, is quite an indicator – its Skype pwa version is supported only on chrome, not on Firefox. The latter is a strong signal for Microsoft’s customers, a recommendation for web browsing. Yes, a signal for *all* of windows users. Like in any game of standards, winner takes all, and the more users that will use one platform, the more developers will be motivated to work with.
The chrome-enabled pwa standardization comes a few years after a new server side echo system is rising: node.js, Based (also) on the Chrome’s engine. As a result, Google is turning into the de facto standard setter for the web. It is, as it seem to be, a tactonic shift in the internet world, aswe know it. This kind of power is huge. Google today can make site appear or disappear using its search results. In the future, its sufficiently enough for Google to assimilate, for example, a payment system in these standards, and the online payments industry will be in an inferior position relatively. That, again, includes Apple.
This is true for any other service or technology that promoting will advance Google 1st of all. In the end this a big hit to the internet community entirely
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