Do you think KBin/Lemmy choice driven by when you started using the internet?

Looking at my feed there is a huge amount of noise around a mobile app coming from Lemmy based servers.

When you look at the why did you choose Lemmy/Kbin questions the fact it has a REST API and a mobile application seems to drive the choice behind Lemmy.

This got me thinking about why people view a mobile application as a must have feature.

I've been using the internet for decades and first hit the responsive web design issue when browsing via Pocket Internet Explorer. Websites would be developed to look good on IE6, Firefox, Chrome, etc.. and trying to make that responsive so it worked on low resolution screens (e.g. phones) was usually too difficult.

For me this is why Mobile Applications were so useful, it took the same content and repackaged so it was readable and usable on a phone. It was a new nice to have if the website was rubbish.

Which is why KBin's lack of Application doesn't bother me, Earnst has done a great job implementing a responsive design. KBin is perfectly usable from a mobile web browser.

This suggests to me, there must be a age/use inflection point. smartphones first became popular in 2007 and this would have changed how people view the internet.

Lots of people would have experienced the unresponsive websites through their phones and Node.JS didn't take off until 2011. For people whose internet usage start from this point Mobile Applications would have been viewed as a necessity.

Thoughts?