Tablets change our expectations of software

PC software, over time, has grown in size and complexity. For any product, any version had more features (and used more memory) than the previous version.

Microsoft Windows almost made such a change. The marketing materials for Windows offered many things; one of them was simplicity. Windows programs would be "easy to use", so easy that they would be "intuitive".

While software under Windows become more consistent (identical commands to open and save files) and programs could share data (via the clipboard), they were not simpler. The steady march of "more features" continued. Today, Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel are the standards for word processing and spreadsheets, and both are bulging with features, menus, add-ins, and sophisticated scripting. Competing PC software duplicates all of those features.

Software for tablets is following a different model.

The products for tablets released by Apple, Google, and even Microsoft are reduced versions of their PC counterparts. Apple's "Pages" is a word processor, but smaller than Microsoft Word. Google's "Drive" (the app formerly called "Docs") is a word processor with fewer features than Microsoft Word, and a spreadsheet with fewer features than Microsoft Excel. Even Microsoft's version of Word and Excel for Windows RT omits certain functions.

I see three drivers of this change:

The tablet interface limits features: Tablets have smaller screens, virtual keyboards, and the software generally has no drop-down menus. It is quite difficult to translate a complex PC program into the tablet environment.

Users want tablet software to be simple: Our relationship with tablets is more intimate than our relationship with PCs. We carry tablets with us, and generally pick the one we want. PCs, in contrast, stay at a fixed location and are assigned to us (especially in the workplace). We accept complexity in PC apps, but we push back against complexity in tablet apps.

Tablets complement PCs: We use tablets and PCs for different tasks and different types of work. Tablets let us consume data and perform specific, structured transactions. We can check the status of our systems, or view updates, or read news. We can bank online or update time-tracking entries with tablet apps. For long-form composition, we still use PCs with their physical keyboards, high-precision mice, and larger screens.

The demands placed upon tablet software is different from the demands placed upon desktop software. (I consider laptop PCs to be portable desktop PCs.) We want desktop PCs for composition; we want tablets for consumption and structured transactions. Those different demands are pushing software in different directions: complex for desktops, simple for tablets.

The end of complex PC apps

Businesses are facing a problem with technology: PCs (and tablets, and smart phones) are changing. Specifically, they are changing faster than businesses would like.

Corporations have many programs that they use internally. Some corporations build their own software, others buy software "off the shelf". Many companies use a combination of both.

All of the companies with whom I have worked wanted stable platforms on which to build their systems and processes. Whether it was a complex program built in C++, a comprehensive model built in a spreadsheet, or an office suite (word processor, spreadsheet, and e-mail), companies want to invest their effort in their custom solutions. They did not want to spend money or time on upgrades and changes to the operating system or commercially available applications.

While they dislike change, corporations are willing to upgrade systems. Corporations want long upgrade cycles. They want gentle upgrade paths, with easy transitions from one version to the next. They were happy with the old Microsoft world: Windows NT, Windows 2000, and Windows XP were excellent examples of the long, gentle upgrades desired by corporations.

That is no longer the world of PCs. The new world sees fast update cycles for operating systems, major updates that require changes to applications. For companies with custom-made applications, they have to invest time and effort in updating their applications to match the new operating systems. (Consider Windows Vista and Windows 8.) For companies with off-the-shelf applications, they have to purchase new versions that run on the new operating systems.

What is a corporation to do?

My guess is that corporations will seek out other platforms and move their apps to those platforms. My guess is that corporations will recognize the cost of frequent change in the PC and mobile platforms, and look for other solutions with lower cost.

If they do, then PCs will lose their title to the development world. The PC platform will not be the primary target for applications.

What are the new platforms? I suspect the two "winning" platforms will be web apps (browsers and servers), and mobile/cloud (tablets and phones with virtualized servers). While the front ends for these systems undergo frequent changes, the back ends are relatively stable. The browsers for web apps are mostly stable and they buffer the app from changes to the operating system. Tablets and smart phones undergo frequent updates; this cost can be minimized with simple apps that can be updated easily.

The big trend is away from complex PC applications. These are too expensive to maintain in the new world of frequent updates to operating systems.