App — the Most Abused Word In Tech?

Barence writes "PC Pro has a blog exploring the misuse of the word 'app'. Until the iPhone came along, the word 'application' largely meant a self-contained piece of software installed on a PC or Mac. Then Apple took ownership, trimmed it to three letters, and within months the word 'app' became synonymous with small widgets of code for smartphones. Now, Google's pushing the boundaries of the 'app' definition even further. Google Chrome users will have seen a new addition to their browser recently: the Chrome Web Store. Here, you'll find dozens of 'apps' to install and run directly from a handy icon on the browser's home screen. Except, these aren't 'apps' at all. They're websites. Google's idea of 'apps' are what we quaintly referred to in the good old days as 'bookmarks.' Does the word 'app' mean anything at all any more?"

The distinction is irrelevant

[Randyll]

As much as Google Docs is a website it is also a web application. Whether the shortcut I see on my "Apps" view in Chrome takes me to a local or remote (cloud) program is irrelevant. If I am using vim remotely through a ssh client, am I using a terminal or vim, or both? In the same sense, the browser acts as a terminal for Google Docs, and denigrating the contemporary definition of 'app' is a waste of time.