1 August 2007
The Future of The Mobile Web
Posted by Barnabas under: Uncategorized .
In his article The Analyst, The iPhone, And The Future Of The Mobile Web, Dan Frommer recaps a discussion regarding the pros/cons of iPhone-style powerful mobile browsers that access anything which “signals the beginning of the end for the mobile Web as we know it today” vs. the utility of mobile-specific websites. After conceding that mobile browsers suck, he goes on (emphasis added):
But even if someday everyone has a browser as powerful as the iPhone’s Safari, that doesn’t fix the screen-size problem [...] even if developers use proper Web coding standards, “normal” Web sites will always be crippled on iPhones and similar mobile devices.
Anyone who has used the iPhone on AT&T’s pokey EDGE data connection also knows that the bandwidth just isn’t there yet to browse hi-fi Web sites and actually enjoy it. And for the foreseeable future, there are things you can do with a computer that you simply can’t do with phones, such as hovering a mouse cursor over part of a Web site, browsing with Java-based navigation, right-clicking on links and elegantly using multiple browser windows.
The near future of the Internet is going to look a lot like it did in the last decade, when content creators made separate sites for broadband and dialup users. The “real” Web will continue to get more and more multimedia-heavy, with Java, Flash, and video offerings designed for broadband connections. And the mobile Web should continue as a separate entity, accounting for smaller displays, and focusing on faster-loading, lo-fi content and simple navigation with fat fingers in mind.
I sadly agree that is what will probably happen for large corporate sites or web-only businesses (like Facebook), but I would like to add that Skweezer will bridge the gap for the rest of the web which I believe will remain in the majority. Anyone who thinks there will be both desktop and mobile versions of every site is deluding themselves. Remember the early days of Firefox when IE-specific sites would warn you to download IE in order to log in? Few sites responded with separate versions (or even separate stylesheets) for each browser, but the standard accepted practice is to make your site work on all major browsers. By using good web standards, XHTML and CSS and graceful fallbacks (like specifying onclick AND href for your A tags), web authors can be sure their sites will live long and prosper.
2 Comments so far...
Jorge Says:
15 August 2007 at 1:06 am.
I completely agree. I just got myself a Sprint HTC Mogul with EVDO. Even when I switch to Wifi it doesn’t matter. High bandwidth or not, a mobile device can only have so much memory. After loading about 250kb, Internet Explorer Mobile freezes up for about 5-10 seconds before giving me control of my phone back.
I started http://bMarks.mobi as a way to try and mobilize the social bookmarking process. I have an option for users to mobilize non-mobile sites with Google. I just found out about your Sweezer site though, and have decided to add it during my next update.
Take care,
Jorge
barnabas Says:
16 August 2007 at 7:18 am.
Jorge, I wish you the best with your new service. I’m sure it will prove to be a useful addition to the mobile web.