> I believe that if given a chance, most companies would gladly send you their webpages as opaque .exe files.

This is exactly why "mobile app" versions of webpages (facebook, reddit, you name it) are so prevalent. Of course it's also why I would never use them under any circumstance.

I like the way you put it, "war over control over presentation". It hits the nail on the head and it describes something that has been happening for a long, long time.