The Post-browser Internet

Call me a browser hater, but I’m looking forward to the design opportunities — custom applications and *fully branded experiences — possible when you throw out the browser and build the display piece into something more functional from scratch.

Mobile and TV will be the heroes of the post-PC, post-browser internet, and of course they’re already emerging with mobile browsers finally moving beyond WAP and with an exploding mobile app marketplace. But that potential is already being realized in post-browser desktop PC apps like iTunes, Evernote, Tweetie and a raft of AIR apps. Other niche uses like wi-fi cameras and devices that defy categorization like the beloved misfit, Chumby will have their place. Many brands have yet to understand the role the non-browser internet will play in their business and brands are likely to get caught up in TV widgets and mobile apps without a complete strategy. That’s okay. We can help.

I’m not really interested in defining Web 3.0. (I’ll leave that to Tim O’Reilly, although I’m a fan of the semantic web flavor of Web 3.0.) The more immediate future is the internet beyond the current PC- and browser-centric incarnation.

Further reading:

Check out this video presentation with Dave Zuverink. Dave is part of Adobe’s army of experience designers at Adobe XD. Dave gently reminds the world that web pages are just the display, not the content.

* I wrote a blog piece “Digital Branding Demands Custom Typography” discussing the branding benefits of creating your own apps on my Typophile blog.