The death of the web has long been rumored (just Google “death of web”). However it’s not really the web that is losing popularity, it’s the web browser. Flurry said in its 2014 report that only 14% of time spent on mobile devices is in the browser compared to 86% in apps.
Of course, we actually spend a lot of that time in apps on the mobile web (i.e. tap a link on Twitter); it’s just that we’re accessing the web in non-browsery ways.
The death of the browser has been a slow and steady process, but I believe Apple Watch will now be the nail in the coffin. Not only is there no Safari, but no one seems to notice or care! Imagine if Apple Watch had no Messages or no Weather or no… Uber!!! People would riot. But no Safari? No problem.
There is just no place (literally) for browsers in our post-phone world. But what about search, you say? You are confusing browsing with searching. If you need some info, just ask Siri. Or I’m sure Google will make an app for Apple Watch too.
The point is, if Apple announced a computer with no web browser, or a new version of iOS with no web browser, or I don’t know, a new MacBook with no ports, people would freak out. Like the way they freak out about everything Apple has ever removed ever.
And yet the lack of reaction, or even acknowledgement, that there is no Safari on Apple Watch, leads me to believe that not only is Apple right to not include it, but we are actually ready to accept it: a wearable world with no web browsers.
