Envisioning the Future of Web Apps Video

Envisioning the Future of Web Apps Video Transcript

>> Welcome to the Future of Web Applications show here in London. Now Web Apps, not the sexist thing to talk about; it's not a gadget that I can show you but I bet you spend most of your time inside your web applications so we came out here to London to see what's next on the web. ^M00:00:19 [ Music ] ^M00:00:23

>> Well, the Future of Web Apps is great conference. It's the highlight of my year because I get to see what's going on in the world of web, but also to meet lots of developers, lots of business-type people and really I enjoy the buzz of many people and seeing where things are going.

>> So just where are things going? The trajectory seems to be all about HTML5, the next major revision of HTML, the core language of the web.

>> HTML4 was designed for static websites that are texts, links, images and it doesn't really give enough power to developers to do interactive Web Apps or Web 2.0, and so HTML5 tries to build on the existing language so that developers can use it for Web Apps in order to compete with Flash and Microsoft Silverlight.

>> And how will the consumer really feel the difference from HTML5?

>> Well, a multitude of ways. Some of it will be they won't get as annoyed with the web anymore so HTML5 includes things for video and dynamic graphics, so gone will be the days when you'll have to download extra plug-ins or upgrade extra plug-ins because you won't need plug-ins anymore; those will be in the browser.

>> Web Developers attend conferences like this to learn not only how to write great web surfaces but also how to get paid for them. So don't get too used to everything on the web being free.

>> The fact that things are free actually reduces the quality overall. Why? Because if I get paid for the content I create whether that's the next game or the next application or the next article, I'm going to put more into it and that's what the iPhone has taught us. For the longest time, mobile applications were for the most part free. Then the iPhone apps store came along, they created a great platform, provided great tools, and allowed developers to monetize [assumed spelling]; and in the process a lot of really interesting ideas, things that people didn't put effort in before are coming to life.

>> You may not have to pay for Facebook, but the iPhone Apps Store has proven you will pay for news and services especially on your mobile device.

>> Mobile is really the way forward for much of the world. So a colleague of mine is a Chinese guy and he would point me to a Chinese Government website; and they said that 23% if I remember the figures right, of everybody in China that has Internet access has no computer. They only use a mobile phone and 23% is something like 79 million people. America decides mobile-friendly isn't rocket science; it's just that a lot of people don't yet really understand that the web is more than a desktop computer.

>> One person who does understand that is Digg Founder, Kevin Rose. He keynoted the event to help European developers learn lessons from the Silicon Valley.

>> Kevin Rose: I don't know that there's quite the starve environment that there is obviously out in the Bay area, and so I think when it's great when you can bring in a lot of entrepreneurs with experience growing and building new futures and new sites, and kind of hopefully as he moves these conferences around the country and around the world kind of spark that all over; and I think that there's a lot of new entrepreneurs and kind of new ideas that are happening now in London and it's just cool to have the community come out and see what we're doing out there.

>> Natali Del Conte CNET news.