While Washington debates the pros and cons net neutrality, the real downfall of the World Wide Web may be the mobile phone app,
The Wall Street Journal reports.
People are increasingly using apps rather than the Web to find driving directions or use social media sites. According to mobile-analytics company Flurry, people use apps 86 percent of the time they are on cell phones. They surf the Internet only 14 percent of the time.
Apps are more convenient for users, but they come at a price: openness.
The Internet was invented by the government long before its commercial use was realized. As a result, web developers were forced to make their websites complaint to all users. A web browser such as Netscape had to be able to open any website or a user would simply switch to another browser.
Now, Apple and Android have their own mobile operating systems, and might even ban certain apps from their stores. Apple has been known to do so if it has political or content disagreements or if the app competes with one of its products.
Another problem for those selling products is cost. Anyone can set up a website and take money through credit card transactions. Amazon had to pay only a small fee to accept credit cards on its website, but Apple takes a 30 percent cut on sales transactions made through iPhone apps.
"Very few businesses in the world can withstand that haircut," venture capitalist Chris Dixon told the Journal.
With the rise of apps, developers are worrying less about browser compatibility. Google's new email venture, Inbox, is available in the Apple and Android app stores, but on the Internet it works only with Google's own browser, Chrome.
While the Web isn't expected to go away completely, even news and other websites now seen there are adding apps. Facebook has said it plans to host the work of publishers within the social media site, the Journal notes.
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