Leaping to mobile may be better than fixing a web site

When looking at the changes needed to make a web site suitable for mobile devices, it may be better to write native apps.

ADP, the large payroll processor, has a web site. It was designed several years ago, and is a bit dated. Not as old as a 1990's style web page with blink tags, but not as modern as it could be. It uses a plug-in to display data enclosed in a PDF. (I find that a bit odd, given that HTML is all about markup and presentation -- but that's not important right now.) The important bit: that plug-in fails on some configurations.

The web site works on my laptop (IE on Windows 7) and on my Apple MacBook (an old version of Safari on an equally old version of MacOS). The web site fails on Chrome on Ubuntu, but works on FireFox on Ubuntu.

The web site works in Windows 8, when I load it in the "classic desktop" version of IE. It fails when I load it in the "Metro" version of IE.

These failures are due to the plug-in (or lack thereof). Chrome under Ubuntu cannot find the plug-in to handle a PDF file. (Despite my various attempts.)

Now, I realize that the market share for Chrome on Ubuntu is quite small. I'm not seriously thinking that ADP would modify a web site to handle that small slice of the market.

But what about Windows 8?

The "Metro" version of IE does not support plug-ins -- of any kind. This web site will never work on the "Metro" side of Windows 8. (Or, I suspect, any future version of Windows.) While it does work on the "classic desktop" side (Windows 8 has two versions of IE, one for "Metro" and the other for "classic") it does not work on Windows RT. (And Windows RT has only the "Metro" version of IE.)

One would think that ADP would update their web site to handle this problem.

Or maybe not.

They have a mobile app. Two, actually: one for iOS and one for Android. (I suspect that ADP is developing a third for Windows RT.)

Native apps solve the problem of plug-ins. They solve other configuration issues. And they solve the problem of compatibility with old browsers.

Perhaps this is the right approach. If it is, then ADP will probably leave their web site in its current ("broken" as I see it) state. Is that a problem? Well, maybe, for a small number of users. (A Windows RT version of the app will solve the Windows 8 problems.)

I think we may see a shift from web development to mobile development. Web sites won't go away, but they won't be the premiere interface either. They will be a legacy interface, with mobile taking the lead.