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Am I the only one who finds the new Apps-based world boring?

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zridling:
Where "software" was once fun, interesting, and useful, now it's retreating into fenced-in arenas governed by Google, Microsoft, Apple, Facebook, et al. Software has morphed into browser apps and extensions, most of which seems intent on connecting us to -- and fencing us into -- distinct corporate portals built solely for their profit by making my internet experience is limited by the products they want to sell me. And mind you, corporations do not share my views of liberty, but instead are intent on restricting what search terms I can enter, what search results I will get, what words I can use according to their almost religious Terms of Service "agreements," and on top of it all, they get to view, share, sell, or lock me out of my online data at their pleasure. As a result, it's 2010 and I'm bored (and boring, I know). I have dozens of sites I visit daily, but most of them evoke a "meh" at best.



I want knowledge,
I want intellectual liberty,
I want no restrictions on my curiosities,
I want creativity, not [endless] legal controls,
I want productivity, not merely connectivity.

mouser:
I have the same unsatisfied feeling, though my interpretation is somewhat different than yours.

I feel like these huge app stores are turning into marketing/advertising repositories.  Where we are all playing one huge game where the "content creators" are trying to come up with clever ways to create an advertisement that has just enough "value" to convince us to install it.

daddydave:
I am sure you know this but Apple did not invent the word app. (why do you think they are called Apple? Surely you don't believe the story about it being someone's favorite fruit. It's because you can run apps on their computers.) People have been calling applications that run on personal computers apps at least since the 1980's and probably earlier. It sounds like your beef is more with the cloud and with the app store. There are plenty of apps for the Palm (both classic and WebOS) and PocketPC platform that don't require going through an app store and that don't store your data anywhere other than on your device and on your computer. Unfortunately I want the same things you want and it doesn't seem to be the way of the future.

OK, I am done editing now. ;)

Click to open off-topic rantI don't know why Phrase Express hates Chrome so much. Something got rid of my two paragraphs of carefully drafted text, this happens a lot when filling in any kind of form in Chrome

Renegade:
+1 Zane.

It's like a flock of vampires descending down to carve out their feeding grounds.

Darwin:
Why are we surprised, though? Isn't this essentially what happened with the OS and shareware in the 1980's and early 1990's? It all went from a world of choice and possibility and got distilled down into a world of standards and CONTROL.

I think that what Zaine is complaining about is really part of the bigger issue of the internet becoming more standardized and controlled and its evolution resulting from the appearance of truly handheld internet enabled devices - smartphones, iPod Touches, tablets, etc.

The internet is a victim of its own success - in 20 years we've gone from having the patience to wait for our correspondence to be delivered, read, answered, and the response delivered to expecting INSTANT replies. The same with photography, 24/7 connectivity to our friends and familiy courtesy of mobile phones, etc. No waiting in line for the latest album or book at a bricks and mortar store on the day of release, just downoload it. We're not even tethered to our desks or laps anymore because all of the can be done from the palm of your hand, anywhere., anytime.

Someone or some people are bound to step into the fray and figure out how to control this and make (more) money from it. Internet access is no longer a "money maker" and the hardware isn't as profitable as it once was, so people are looking for other ways to profit from it.

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