I didn't write this wasn't true; I wrote this didn't matter.
Edit: to expand on this a bit: sure, most of the throwaway Electron applications won't have much life in them. But they'll suck the oxygen out of the room and kill everything else first, then fail. So if there was any livelihood staked on those superior native apps you made — well, those people are looking for jobs now. Hope all of them have it as easy as a young software developer.
I agree, and this is the other reason I dislike Electron apps. Not just because of the utter disregard for user's computing resources, but also because of the damage those apps do to their surrounding ecosystems. It's hard to compete against people who can secure money faster than you by cutting corners and dumping waste on everyone else.
It's yet another example of "worse is better" causing a setback in the industry.
So the parent seems correct. Winamp stayed native an lost. Spotify embraced the rapid dev that using a browser host brings to app dev and won.
The degree to which people didn't want to pay for music was kind of obvious when people needed mp3 players sufficient storage that filling them legally would have required as much money as a down payment on a house.
If an Electron "application" is decent, people typically like the features or the online service to which it's tied but its Electron base is something that people more or less tolerate, depending on the degree it irks them. It's just a huge tradeoff, that's all. It reminds me of some Java or Python desktop applications, it's a similar kind of tradeoff.
Hopefully it'll pass just like the previous fads.
Which is why electron is so popular. I'm sure the whole "it's way easier to whip something together that kinda works" is correct in the short term. You whip something up and rely mostly on the hype and viral marketing to drive your app.
Disclaimer: Not an Electron fanboy, I don't even develop Electron apps. I do enjoy using a Linux dev laptop, however, and am not a hardcore vim/emacs guy.
Spotify and Pandora are for letting you play a service's music. Winamp and 17 bazillion players are for letting you play a collection of digital music you control.