For one, it's merely one of around 20 steps you have to take in either case anyway (steps like: type url, press enter to goto page, wait for page to load, click through some license staff, click to start to play, click for fullscreen if you want, wait for assets and loading, click game settings, suffer through the intro, read help for the game controls, etc). So, yes, you might get rid of one measly step -- all the while introducing other steps, lags and inefficiencies.
Second, this step buys you freedom from having the program run on somebody else's mercy. Of course for networked games and apps with central servers you cannot avoid it.
But I would sure as hell like to avoid it for any program that doesn't need a central server. I don't want to use "Photoshop in the browser" and loose all my stuff when Adobe decides to lock me out or kill the service a la Google Reader. Plus have it be susceptible to internet outages, slowdowns, and using technologies and speeds that's 2-3 generations behind a native app. Not all programs gain from running on the browser. A lot of them lose.
That's a lot of strawmen you've set up there. Want a lighter? We can burn them down together.
Yes the scenarios you describe are ridiculous and unacceptable. But thankfully we live in the real world where those extra steps you describe don't actually exist in apps that were programmed by actually good programmers.
As for whether it matters one iota: It matters if you want more people to play your game. You are a progammer, and so you don't perceive the actual difficulty level of software installation. On the other hand, for normal people with average skill levels, having to install software can present a significant barrier to entry.
>Yes the scenarios you describe are ridiculous and unacceptable. But thankfully we live in the real world where those extra steps you describe don't actually exist in apps that were programmed by actually good programmers.
I have not seen even ONE (ONE) online app or game, where most of the above steps do not exist. You might be able to find one. I doubt you'll find two, much less five.
So, straw-men? Puh-lease.
>It matters if you want more people to play your game. You are a progammer, and so you don't perceive the actual difficulty level of software installation.
For one, you sidestepped all my arguments. I proposed systems like the Mac App Store and Valve -- and even more automated solution, like the Java Web Start for the 21st century (click a button on a webpage, and it's installed and running locally).
And yet, you tell me that "for normal people with average skill levels, having to install software can present a significant barrier to entry", as if we were discussing manual installers and stuff.
You are responding not to what I said, but to the preconceived ideas you have about traditional installers. The stuff I discussed (MAS, etc) are not at all "a significant barrier to entry".
Heck, 5 year olds to 70 year olds can use them just fine on their Mac or their iPhone. I've seen that.
