I’ve noticed two relatively new patterns in the ways I’m working with technology.

First: I am leaning away from using mobile sites and into using apps, even for arguably mundane tasks. A few weeks ago I was browsing a flash sale site and thought, “Huh, I wonder if they have an app?” Of course they did and, maybe not surprisingly, the app experience and interface was head and shoulders above the phone-optimized website. I mean, it wasn’t even close. So I switched to it.

Similar thing happened with Nordstrom. They have a competent mobile site, but their app is really, really good. It’s fun, too.

I’ve long held a theory that in the near now, the web will act as a backup channel for people who can’t/don’t use apps - and simultaneously act as plumbing for apps. So I’m testing it out and, so far, I can understand the appeal.

Second: While I love RSS via Fever, my reader of choice, just about every site I read has a Twitter stream serving the same alert purpose of RSS. So I’m half-considering just ditching RSS, setting up a new list on Twitter, and using Tweetbot, Instapaper, and the web as my reading mechanism. I would need to ditch Reeder, an app I mostly love*, but I’m intrigued to see if this would do me any good. I might have already done it by the time you read this.

Sometimes letting go is necessary. And sometimes, it’s just fun to try new things.

* = Except for the fact that on one version upgrade eons ago, Reeder blew away all of my services preferences so I effectively can’t save anything to Instapaper without setting them up again, and setting them up in Reeder is such a painful and ugly and horrible process (one by one! they all default to ON!) that I haven’t done it out of spite. I showed that app!