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Chapter 4 Hardware, Software, and Mobile Systems
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Figure 4-19
Sophisticated html5 Application
Source: Image created using the
BioDigital Human (www.biodigital.com)

Updates to the application are automatic and seamless. You need not install (or reinstall) anything.
This difference is an advantage to the user; it makes it more difficult, however, to earn money from
your application. Amazon, for example, will sell your native application and pay you a royalty.
However, unless you require users to buy your Web application (which is possible, but rare), you’ll
have to give it away.

Which Is Better?

You know the answer to that question. If it were clear-cut, we’d only be discussing one alterna-
tive. It’s not. The choice depends on your strategy, your particular goals, the requirements for your
application, your budget, your schedule, your tolerance for managing technical projects, your need
for application revenue, and other factors. In general, Web applications are cheaper to develop
and maintain, but they may lack the wow factor. You and your organization have to decide for
yourselves!

Q4-6 Why Are Mobile Systems Increasingly Important?

Mobile systems are information systems that support users in motion. Mobile systems users
access the system from any place—at home, at work, in the car, on the bus, or at the beach—using
any smart device, such as a smartphone, tablet, or PC. The possibilities are endless.
Mobile systems users move not only geographically but also from device to device. The user
who starts reading a book on an iPad on a bus, continues reading that book on a PC at work, and
finishes it on a Kindle Fire at home is mobile both geographically and across devices.