JohnD -- Does this change (eventually) mean that PC-based systems are headed for elimination and phone-based systems have become the "darlings"?
To some extent that's a philosophical question, isn't it? But my purely personal view would probably comprise 3 parts:
1. You're always going to need some mechanism to upload data locally into the cloud. That can currently be an IP logger, a Connect cellular modem or a standalone computer running software. In the future very possibly this functionality could be built into a receiver/console unit (with or without its own display) and using eg WiFi. But a phone is never going to manage the
uploads AFAICS.
2. Processing & storing the data could move almost completely into the cloud, so there's no need for a PC to fill this role. There'll still be resistance from some users to handing over responsibility completely to the cloud so I'd expect the
option of using a local PC will remain as an alternative for some time to come.
3. One of the things about modern browser applications is that they can be run on any device that has enough processing power and a decent screen, PC, tablet or phone - the tablet may well be a very convenient device for reviewing weather data. For the foreseeable future I'd expect the browser and smartphone apps to be developed in parallel and people will use whichever device they prefer, maybe switching from one to the other as required. So a smartphone would be what you use out and about or eg if you just quickly want to check a temperature or rainfall or forecast. But for a more thorough review of recent weather then a larger screen is surely always going to be preferred.
So until someone finds a way of building a larger screen and a better keyboard into a phone then both browser & smartphone apps will have their part to play. But of course phone developments may well happen - phones with projectors built in aren't far away and maybe Siri/Alexa will get better and better and replace keyboards much more.
It's certainly possible to imagine a phone taking over the role of a primary console display - some phones must be pretty much the size of eg a Vue display, so why wouldn't you use a bright full-colour display that's (typically) always with you. And the phone is also likely to take over the role of a set-up device for hardware where needed. It's already the case that setting up the Davis EM gateways and nodes is done via a smartphone app and Bluetooth connection to the device.