Recently, Mark Zuckerberg made a comment saying that Facebook's mobile app based on HTML5 was "one of the biggest mistakes if not the biggest strategic mistakes we've ever made". I mean yes the application was TERRIBLE; it crashed all the time, was slow, and had a number of issues but I don't agree.
There is a number of other companies that have great HTML5 applications with just as much complexity ( if not more ) than the Facebook app. The first and best example I can think of is the LinkedIn application. This is a very nice application that performs fine with similar characteristics as the Facebook app.
Windows 8 is basing their whole marketplace around HTML5 applications. While you might argue that the computing power of a desktop is far greater than a phone, the complexity of the applications are going to be greater too.
I argue that making HTML5 applications are the way to go! Why is that?
- Reusability: Code that you write can be re-used on all the different platforms your application needs to reach.
- Standards: HTML5 is based on a set of standards that is widely-adopted, documented, and growing.
- Community: The HTML5/CSS/JavaScript community is one of the finest out there. More developers, more resources, etc.
All of this leads to faster development, which means cheaper costs and better applications. How can you argue with this? Zuckerberg's team might have just screwed the pooch on the implementation, we will never know but before Zuckerberg starts throwing HTML5 under the bus they should take a step back and talk about why.