Apparently all UX specialists agree with him though. He's not the only one trying to make a super app that thinks everybody is craving for a super app.
Discussion
Normal people don't care about open protocols. They want a consistent experience. Right now they have 5+ chat apps with a fraction of their people in each one. Each one has its own weird video thing. None of them implement money sending well, but they all do it. They just want a single coherent experience. It's that simple.
most people do not want different "apps"
most people don't want apps at all.
all most people care about is accomplishing tasks as fast as possible and being entertained
reliability, predictability, and usability all fold into "accomplishing tasks as fast as possible"
Syntactically, you're right. Before there were apps it was "computer programs" and "software" and choosing your OS was critical. All of these words refer to specific functions that a user wants a computer to accomplish. So in the sense that they don't care about aPp BrAnDs you're right, but they do want coherent function. Apple's success in the 201Xs exemplifies this. The OS was the original super app and I tend to think we'll get back there eventually. There's a project called Urbit that's taking the bottom-up approach and whether you're interested in using it or not you should check it out to stimulate thoughts on this problem.
History seems to go in the opposite direction—more specialized and fragmented.
Take TV. Once it was 3 channels, then a few more, then cable blew that out. Cable consolidated, packaged, then Internet streaming took off and now everything is decoupled again.
When people have the choice, they seem to prefer separate options than all-in-one packages.
I agree with this statement. I come at it from a point of using WeChat for 5 years and the horrible experience it delivers.
I just don’t see one company producing exceptional results across the board over smaller and more specialized teams.
If someone creates and app that can do “everything” and all of those services are better than existing services… well that screams Antitrust laws and needs to be broken up.