Pew report: The Future of Apps and the Web

Pew Internet surveyed 1,021 technology stakeholders and critics and asked them about the future of apps and the web. Unlike many surveys, this latest one from Pew doesn't have a single, unifying answer. Instead, the survey highlights the diverse opinions that exist about how we will use native apps and web apps in the future.

Rob Scott, the chief technology officer for Nokia, believes the web will dominate and argues, "Once HTML5 browsers and fully capable Web runtimes are in place on the common Kindle through iPhone, the Web app will begin replacing native apps."

Technology author and consultant Fred Hapgood, however, sees the benefit of native apps. He claims that apps are convenient and notes that the "ease of use always wins." A third camp believes apps and the web will continue to co-exist. As Tony Smith of the Open Source Developers Club in Melbourne, Australia points out, "both will continue to grow in ways that are impossible for most to imagine."

So where do you stand? Are native apps are our future, will the web continue to dominate or will we find a happy medium somewhere in between?