is the Web interface marginalized in cloud services?

Editor's note: This article selected from the ReadWriteWeb "Readwritecloud" channel, the author is Uzi Shmilovici.

In the Internet age, users mainly use a variety of Internet services through browsers. Apple's App Store launched a revolution in mobile applications in March 2008, though many companies today still insist that "browsers are the ultimate interface for all kinds of internet services", but in fact, more and more cloud companies don't have a web interface, or provide its services to clients that can be used on a variety of devices.

Why?

In fact, the client software exists longer than the history of the Internet. So why do these companies turn back to using more antique client software? For the following 4 reasons:

Internet: The Internet makes the client software glow the second spring. The popularity of the internet allows most processes and storage to be done in the cloud, and client software becomes an interface, making it easier for client software to write and maintain.

Device Revolution: The IPhone, ipad, and an endless stream of Android devices are on the stage, and client software is better able to perform these mobile devices.

Increased computing power: we have more computers around, and these computers are more powerful. The iphone's performance is already stronger than most PCs in the 2002, and the Wii has more computing power than the mainframe computers used by Apollo on the moon. On the other hand, client software is smaller, but more efficient, and we can run multiple applications at the same time.

App Store mode: The App Store model is a "discover-install" client software process, and with the introduction of the Mac App Store, we can get the same experience on laptops and desktops. The same is true for Windows 8.

What will happen in the future?

I used Evernote's Mac client to listen to Spotify and knock out this article, both of which are OS X client apps. In fact, Evernote's CEO Phil Libin once mentioned that evernote95% traffic comes from clients on a variety of devices.

Spotify is more thorough: it has no web service at all. And more thoroughly: With the Spartan program, Facebook is closer to the phone. Popular apps like Instapaper have a web interface, but I wonder how many people are using it.

What does this have to do with cloud computing?

If you have an Internet company, you may need to pay attention to the following five points:

1. Establishing a service-oriented architecture: Jeff Bezos once said that when you load a product page from Amazon, you actually start up to 200 different network services. This architecture has a clear, concrete, Easy-to-use interface, and you can quickly build native client applications.

2. Give your application a best interface: Do not assume that the first interface of your product is a Web interface, depending on what application you are applying and what you are going to do. It's a normal thing to use the mobile interface as the first interface to your product.

3. Establish native applications on all market-share-leading equipment: Native applications have many advantages, including easy to be downloaded and used by users in the App Store and a better user experience. You can start with iOS and Android and then expand to other platforms.

4. Use Web pages as another interface: Consider the interface of Web applications at the application level alone. This will maximize the performance of the interface on other devices.

5. Take the user to heart: Remember, on the other end of the device users are using your application. You should focus on providing users with a better user experience, delivering your product to the user in the right place and in the best way.

What needs to be explained is that the Big Bang won't stop, it will evolve, and new devices and interfaces will continue to emerge. Think about TV, cars, gaming consoles, home electronics, voice-based interfaces (such as Siri) and so on, and you should be prepared to embrace change.

Via RWW

(Yoyo for Lei Feng Network, reproduced please specify!)