Why do web applications make computing easier? Well, they require no management: you don't have to deal with software updates, patches, new versions, etc. In general: they require no management from the end user's perspective. This is a good thing. As a driver, you also don't care about the management of your car.
Another advantage of web applications is device interchangeability: I can access my applications and my data, independent of the device I am using.
The biggest downside is vendor lock-in. If Google (or another company) stores all your mails, how do you migrate to another provider? More and more web applications have public API's that can be used to extract your data if you choose to migrate to another provider.
Other disadvantages of web applications include:
- Poor support for offline operation: the new HTML5 standards do have some support for caching data and application code in your browser to support disconnected operation. However, this only works for applications that operate on small amounts of data and nowadays very few applications have support for HTML5's offline capabilities.Standards such as the File API that provide better support for offline operations are still in development and not yet implemented in today's browsers.
- Emerging technology: HTML5 and associated standards are an emerging technology. They are promising but not yet fully implemented nor fully standardized.
- Performance: running applications on a remote server introduces latency. Last mile connections need to get much better and service providers need to provision enough servers to create a better user experience.
