Peter Harbeson of the S60 Browser Blog has written an interesting article about an experiment he pursued. He tried to see how many applications and uses in a cellphone he could replace by only using the built-in browser, as well as the calling capabilities of the handset. Not surprisingly, he could basically perform many actions that once were software-dependent, like manage a calendar, edit Word and Excel documents, type emails, send sms, listen to music, read ebooks, watch videos, and the list goes on. The only limitations he found were using the camera and setting reminders.
Peter concluded by asking himself the stellar question: what if a company focused on bringing a phone that is only capable of making calls and browsing the web, what if it put all of its resources into providing a powerful browser that could replace all other software? The answer can’t be easily found, I guess. The comments on Peter’s post seem to be divided between those who tend to believe it’s possible and those who think there are many applications that would use too many resources for a browser to handle.
Jump in on the conversation, and don’t forget to tell us what you think here too. It’s an enticing problematic that would raise a lot of questions: What are the limitations of the web as we know it? What are the improvements to be made in a browser in order to let it handle more and more resources? What is the destiny of all 3rd party application developers and companies? And is the mobile OS, as we know it, dead by the simple fact that whatever it is, it has an internet browser somehow and that that particular browser can (and will) perform everything a full platform would normally do?
Edit: Michael Mace from Mobile Opportunity has just wrote an article about the same issue that we are discussing here. I haven’t read it fully yet, but I have breezed through it and, as always, it seems enlightening and thought-triggering.
