I have seen many apps (on all platforms -- iPhone, Android, OS X, Windows, etc.) that deviate from user expectations. Ultimately, meeting user expectations is the responsibility of the developer not the framework.
HTML has its own set of visual cues that you and millions of others easily interact with every single day. I would argue that the interaction model of HTML/JS apps may be as familiar or more familiar to users.
I don't disagree that HTML/JS apps can be difficult to develop, but I do not think they are going to "lose". (I don't think they are going to win either. It's not a win/lose situation.)
Since it seems that your background is in native applications, I just wanted to provide you with some references to frameworks that provide something a little more advanced than jQuery and interactive documents.
Obviously, each team needs to look at its project and goals and choose whether a native app, an HTML/JS app, or both is appropriate.
HTML+JS libraries -- such as jquery -- are just fine for interactive document publishing, but are no replacement for Cocoa, Android, or Qt. The lack of common re-usable and extensible UI components is a travesty.
I wouldn't exactly call them un-targeted; the recipients have asked to receive them. Also, this is an audience that is open to using the offers as a way to get ideas for new experiences.
Sure, it is fair to call this out and I am glad people are doing so. What I find off-putting is the way in which the commenter did so. There is clearly no interest in a civil discussion when someone suggests that the opposing side needs to "Grow up" and that their opinions are the result of a mid-life crisis.
As for my comment being pointless, I agree. Shame on me. Won't happen again.
EDIT: Upvoting you for busting me on my hypocrisy.
Playing or winning the lottery involves nothing but money. An acquisition involves major changes to an organization's structure, its products or services, and the lives of all its employees.
I've honestly never understood why startups want to be acquired (besides the monetary gain for individual employees). Doesn't acquisition often destroy or dilute the very successes they've worked so hard to build? (I worked for an acquisitive company that worsened nearly every product/company it acquired.) Why not just focus on making your business better?
Heroku will now be subject to all kinds of pressures and asinine ideas that may not relate to their core offering. As a Heroku user I am concerned and saddened.
Can anyone offer any perspective? I'm puzzled by the acquisition mindset.
Maybe treating any ad network component as a "sub-app" with separate permissions would make it more obvious when a request for network access is unwarranted. As to how something like that might be implemented... I have no idea.
I find the frequent major changes in the Ruby ecosystem to be quite frustrating. That's not to say that I wish this progress wouldn't occur... I just wish it would occur in a more controlled manner. Documentation seems to suffer the most and I have definitely come across a few libraries that don't "just work". I love Ruby and the Ruby community, but I long for the day when things move at a less frenzied pace... I know it would put my managers at ease, too.
HTML has its own set of visual cues that you and millions of others easily interact with every single day. I would argue that the interaction model of HTML/JS apps may be as familiar or more familiar to users.
I don't disagree that HTML/JS apps can be difficult to develop, but I do not think they are going to "lose". (I don't think they are going to win either. It's not a win/lose situation.)
Since it seems that your background is in native applications, I just wanted to provide you with some references to frameworks that provide something a little more advanced than jQuery and interactive documents.
Obviously, each team needs to look at its project and goals and choose whether a native app, an HTML/JS app, or both is appropriate.