'And if you ask people why they build web apps, the answer will not be "because desktop is dead"'
I actually started my career in desktop apps and moved to web "because desktop is dead". My first couple tasks projects at my current employer were Swing apps, IDE plugins, etc.
I was pulled onto web development because we basically can't sell desktop interfaces anymore. I'd prefer to do desktop software, IMHO it's easier (particularly in Java, where the web frameworks suck), but there's just no demand for it. Almost all new development at my employer uses a web front-end. Almost all of our competitors are still using thick-client desktop apps. When we go out to prospective clients and give demos, our web interface is a significant selling point.
'"web software" is almost never considered valuable enough to get people to open their wallets for'
Our customers give us close to a million dollars a pop for our webapps.
I actually started my career in desktop apps and moved to web "because desktop is dead". My first couple tasks projects at my current employer were Swing apps, IDE plugins, etc.
I was pulled onto web development because we basically can't sell desktop interfaces anymore. I'd prefer to do desktop software, IMHO it's easier (particularly in Java, where the web frameworks suck), but there's just no demand for it. Almost all new development at my employer uses a web front-end. Almost all of our competitors are still using thick-client desktop apps. When we go out to prospective clients and give demos, our web interface is a significant selling point.
'"web software" is almost never considered valuable enough to get people to open their wallets for'
Our customers give us close to a million dollars a pop for our webapps.