When we launched posterous in 2008, yes it was missing a bunch of features. But look at us now (or actually, in a month, we have a lot of stuff about to launch). We'll have everything all other blog platforms have, and more.
But SIX YEARS after gmail's launch, they can't say the same.
For Posterous, and any other web app, we'd have to decide the tradeoff. If we focused on one browser, could we add enough value to that experience that it's worth dropping support for Ubuntu Firefox?
Each browser and each developer should be able to decide this, instead of being slowed down by the platform as a whole.
If you really wanted to head your advice you could focus on one single browser that works on all operating systems and have your users download that as their app.
Come on, are you really suggesting that gmail didn't add any value and is just playing catch up with old email software? Free unlimited email storage? Auto-saving and suggesting contacts? Threaded email conversations? Big attachments? AJAX? Email search that works?
Each browser and each developer should be able to decide this, instead of being slowed down by the platform as a whole.
You know you do have the freedom to pick one browser. But you won't because it makes no business sense, unless you are talking about innovation in a vacuum.
We are re-inventing the wheel with the web to some extent. But it is already beginning to get very good very fast and Posterous is a good parallel of that phenomenon in the blogging world.
I would go farther and suggest that GMail was designed with the intention of making the desktop version of email obsolete.
They added in some desktop features primarily (IMHO) to support users who were so ingrained in their usage patterns that they couldn't see that really good search was actually BETTER than putting your email into folders. Desktop apps are only just beginning to catch up with faster search--and they still don't do it as well as Google.
But SIX YEARS after gmail's launch, they can't say the same.
For Posterous, and any other web app, we'd have to decide the tradeoff. If we focused on one browser, could we add enough value to that experience that it's worth dropping support for Ubuntu Firefox?
Each browser and each developer should be able to decide this, instead of being slowed down by the platform as a whole.