How real! Need to know where to look. You, apparently, just can not imagine how much all the interesting things outside the Web. I consider one of the main areas to be automation (with elements of AI), data mining, and so on. And if I were you, I would still have narrowed the question:
- Which of the "web-applications" you do not like? Those. How broad is your concept of "application". If it just ends in sharepoint, php, js, etc., then I can probably say that you are mistaken. If more, please indicate at least the areas that do not like.
- What do you call interesting projects? More specifics ... And so to guess, where can we offer you to go forever.
UPD1 As for the applied solutions, you are mistaken, they have not gone anywhere, they just have remained invisible with the naked eye of the direction. For which products, generally recognized market leaders, simply do not apply for some reason. And believe me, they pay well there. This includes highly specialized application projects that simply do not need the web. There are lots of options, you just need to find a person who will give an opportunity to develop.
I thought you meant the whole range of web solutions. Including work with various API. For example, work with the API of a bank, but software is developed, for example, for Android. On the one hand, this can be called a web application, but on the other hand, it is still an application for the user. From the programmer's side, this is also more of an appetite, IMHO.
You may be interested in the development of new trends in the field of information storage and processing, for example, such as OLAP.
One thing that I lacked in the process of studying is for someone to show what is in the world. So that someone could talk about new technologies, new trends, etc. Therefore, I can understand you, information reaches our edges very, very slowly. There is nothing to choose, because you really do not know what to choose from.
And yet, abroad, there is no particular difference between the salaries of application programmers and web programmers (personally, my observation from what I saw / searched for). The reason is that we have low web programmers, and applied programmers are even lower. IMHO.