Death of the Web browser

I'm very opposed to misleading headlines, so please, don't lynch me for the one you see above. Not yet, at least.

Please allow me to indulge in the age-old tradition of clarifying a statement with a dictionary definition, where browser is defined as “a person who looks casually through books or magazines or at things for sale”. The same dictionary entry also has defines browser as the software we use to navigate Web pages - probably the first thing that sprung to mind with that headline.

Obviously I'm referring to the former - people who browse the Web - and how, soon, there might be very little of that browsing thing taking place.

A week ago I was given a BlackBerry to play with (the new Pearl 3G, for which a review will soon be published on ITWeb). It was a big jump, going from my comfort zone of an iPhone to the BlackBerry's world of ubiquitous e-mail and messaging. I'm open-minded, though, and testing new handsets is nothing I'm unfamiliar with.

The iPhone and Pearl are aimed at two very different users, but there are still similarities in each platform. For the purpose of today's topic I'll focus on two of the important features they have in common: a Web browser and an app platform.

From the moment I set up the BlackBerry, I immediately grabbed the Facebook and Twitter applications. I use these extensively on the iPhone, for work and pleasure, so they were required. Soon, I realised that no matter the platform, I rarely use the built-in Web browsing software to go to specific Web sites.

There is too much information flying to even begin sifting through it.

Christo van Gemert, gadgets editor, ITWeb Online

Smartphone applications mean people no longer have to visit the actual Facebook Web site to check up on their social life, nor do they need to visit Twitter's Web site to update a status. In fact, almost every conceivable everyday Web site has an application for delivering its content.

Sites like CNN, Engadget, Gawker and BBC all have smartphone applications that make it easier to consume information on mobile devices.

It makes perfect sense, too: a 3-megabyte application can contain all the static design and art assets, and all it needs to do is download an XML file with the formatting and copy for a news story. Perfect for mobile devices, with their limited connection speeds and pricey data packages.

It's nothing new, though. For a while now we've been using RSS readers to replace the Web sites we used to visit regularly. Why go looking for the information when it can be delivered to your doorstep? We might have replaced newspapers with news sites, but at the same time the paper guy has been replaced by Google Reader.

Additionally, we share links on social networks like Twitter, Facebook and Digg - instant messenger services - and even obtain them in articles we read. They're links with interesting information, supplied by the people we trust, or simply those we follow because they “filter” certain content for us. To some it's a foreign notion, time-consuming or too much effort to visit a Web site and browse for information - information they might not even like - but clicking a link provided by an expert is more likely to generate traffic and discussion.

All these applications are just retooled Web browsers. The Facebook application on the BlackBerry, iPhone or Android phones is just a purpose-built front end to provide the same information you'd find on the actual Web site. The actual browser software still plays an important part in consuming information, but its major role has shifted from finding and delivering content, to displaying it.

There will definitely be times when the last hour of a Friday is spent aimlessly wandering around the Internet, looking to cure boredom, but for the rest of the time there is too much information flying to even begin sifting through it. We don't have time, so why not employ computers to make our lives easier?

Thus, I predict the death of the Web browser. But the content consumer, a connoisseur with specific tastes and the means to fine-tune his information delivery, is thriving.