I'm proud to say that Birmingham has more than 250 free WiFi hotspots, including 5 acres at Vulcan Park AND the airport. I hate waiting in other airports, because I have been spoiled at home. (http://www.ipsaonline.org/wifi/list.php)
I agree - the mobile web is painfully slow, but it is a chicken and egg process.
Mario Sundar
· 2 years ago
Great article, Scott! Agreed that Public Wi-Fi is a pain. However, I beg to differ when it comes to your take on the iPhone.
I've used the iPhone and the Blackberry and as far as my usage goes, the iPhone is the best device to access the web. Also, IMHO there's no way you can get a bigger screen than the iPhone without looking like Flavor Fav!
What's beautiful about the iPhone is the ability to resize text, which allows for easier readability. And that is not available on any other device.
Just my 2 cents.
alan p
· 2 years ago
One of the other big issues in Planet Mobile is an incredible obstinacy about embracing standards, from content capture through to on-phone rendering.
This means the friction for any form of mobile multimedia is very high, also that the much vaunted 2 bn mobile users is actually a "tower of babel" of mutually unintelligible protocols so no ne channel has a very high pull through
I share your concerns on mobile Scott but I am optimistic. But I am pretty sure about one thing. Unless they come out with something really innovative with regards to the small screen issue, mobile is doomed.
Nadir
· 2 years ago
I agree, while mobile devices are getting better but the need for sites adapted to small screens remains.
Search engines such as Yahoo are claiming that their transcoding solution makes it easier to view traditionnal websites from a mobile phone, but this is plain wrong for most sites. Website owners need to be educated and develop sites adapted for their mobile users, because mobile is a HUGE revenue potential.
Pascal
· 2 years ago
What if mobile web was not published content like on a desktop but more conversationnal... and maybe actually talking?
What do you think?
ProfessionalGun
· 2 years ago
I will now be subscribing to your blog. Fantastic post, Scott.
huynh
· 2 years ago
Using the mobile browser to surf the net is like using a spoon to dig a trench. When it comes to mobile devices, think web services.
ceedee
· 2 years ago
I guess it's a good thing folks had a more progressive attitude 20 years ago or we'd still be stuck with acoustic couplers. Or, shudder to mention them, even books!
From what I've heard, there are zillions of delighted mobile web users in bits of Asia. And I can't be alone in getting a thrill out of mobile apps in the UK.
So if it's primarily a problem you have with mobile browsing in the United States, perhaps you should qualify your childish whine?
For the sake of the rest of us, I hope you have less influence than Folio assess.
bernard lunn
· 2 years ago
Great post. Agree with all except screen size. Thats a trade off (weight) and Blackberry is just fine IMO. Despite all these issues its better than lugging a laptop
tomas
· 2 years ago
you are whining. it is not necessary b/c we all knew this (those with a clue). if you are an owner of a blakberry and iphone you are a double looser. go get a wimax set-up and complain about that too...genius. Check out Russell's take: http://www.russellbeattie.com/blog/five-reasons... Unreasonable expectations will cause you many problems. Good luck with getting a real screen in your pocket, I'm sure those criminals will keep tricking you unitl you learn it ain't possible.
Soham
· 2 years ago
Add to this:
1) Web pages getting more complex. Ajax?
2) Not enough battery life on most mobile phones yet. The constant need to find an electric outlet!
Mark
· 2 years ago
I don't get all this negativity. I was using email on the Newton in 1995 over the FM band. That was slow. I just moved from T-Mobile using a BB to the iPhone. Had to use Opera on the BB for some some of the sites I needed. But it kept crashing. Moved to the iPhone, and it's like night and day. Edge is much faster than GPRS or maybe it's the BB don't know. But as far as I'm concerned using the BB OS is akin to to a chisel and stone compared to the iPhone. I have to use web 2.0 sites all day long. Before it was drudgery now it's a joy. It's all in how you look at it I guess.
Jonathan Grubb
· 2 years ago
Scott, I don't know who you are, and I usually don't like to be mean to people I don't know, but you don't have a clue what you're talking about. Your post demonstrates both your cluelessness about the mobile web in general and a complete lack of global perspective.
There are a lot of problems with the mobile web, but you don't list any of them. I'm happy to enlighten you if you are interested.
Mohasin
· 2 years ago
Scott, I understand your frustration with mobile browsing. But believe me, things are changing fast. I know lot of web services who have started providing alternate websites which server web pages optimized for mobile phones. I have shared the same pain as you have and thats the reason why I started compiling this list of websites which are optimized for mobile phones (http://digitallysmart.blogspot.com/2007/09/mobi...).
I agree that mobile networks are slow. But there are ways to circumvent those. For example, have you tried Opera Mini beta. It the best mobile phone browser ever. Not only does it have great usability, but also does something intelligently. What Opera does is that it does not download the actual web site. It instead downloads the web page to their proxy servers and then optimizes and reduces the size of the page by approximately 70%. So ultimately the downloading and rendering speed of the pages on a mobile phone is highly increased.
I personally believe that future belongs to mobile computing. But yes it is takes time.
David
· 2 years ago
In Japan nobody seems to have a problem with connection speeds or accessing the web on their phones.
We will most likely see two parallel webs, one for regular computer screens, and one optimised for mobile devices. Many sites already have that, especially in Europe and Japan. But as usual, the US lags when it comes to mobile tech...
Ben Field
· 2 years ago
Scott, the point about optimizing for small screens is a good one: with optimized pages, the mobile web can look a lot better.
I have found that mobile Safari actually works really well for unoptimized pages, and I haven't found it to be as difficult as you suggest. I realize you must have tried it yourself, since you compare it to "surfing the web through a keyhole." Great metaphor. It must have been annoying for you. My experience is quite different, though. I surf the web on my iPhone all the time, and I feel like it adds as much to the experience as it takes away. I love to be able to double-tap and enlarge photos or paragraphs to fill the whole screen, then double-tap back out and move around. I love the way it steps me through forms. It helps me focus on one thing at a time, which I enjoy, and it's super quick to navigate.
So, here's why I think this matters: optimizing pages will help the mobile web, but before the iPhone made unoptimized pages look good and work well on a mobile device, I as a web developer had no desire to even mess with optimizing. But see, the iPhone has validated mobile devices as web browsing tools, and now I feel drawn to optimize my sites to make them look even better. Small changes to CSS make a big difference on the iPhone.
I think, thanks to the iPhone, we can be ready to see the mobile web "suck" a whole lot less. Time will tell if I'm right, but I think it's a trend worth watching.
Jason
· 2 years ago
I agree with just about all of the above and am completely against the blog post from Russel Russell Beattie’s Weblog
First of all he has no right to call the writer of this post a moron. Quite frankly who the fuck is Russell Beattle? And in fact who the fuck cares? Like he says "...because I can't shut up". Maybe he should really try. Either that or he should try and submit some intelligent comment to this debate. I will comment later on the five points discussed in this blog later. I would respond on Beatles blog but he has switch off comments. A real sign of a self righteous ass hole if you ask me.
Have a nice day
Jason Paris, France
Richard Holloway
· 2 years ago
I've got to echo ceedee's call. It's a US thing. I'm on the 3G network in the UK, I'm able to stream Orb on my phone, access my desktop, browse the web, download podcasts and all on an N73. Never really had a problem with speed...
It's nice that for once you americans are behind us in something.
Jope
· 2 years ago
Heh... isn't that a US-specific problem? You're still so behind on mobile it's amazing... ;)
Alexander van Elsas
· 2 years ago
Hi Scott, I wrote a very similar article a while back. Excellent points, I had similar issues and added a few different ones: - The interface is just not intuitive - There might be a psychological barrier for people to download new apps to their mobile phone (it's their private space) - Lack of truly good services
6. The horrible wordpress plugin that makes simple posts like this take 300k on a mobile browser. ZDnet hosts the only blogs that load fast in mobile browsers.
Ilossan
· 2 years ago
Tabloid headline for a tabloid post. Things like this discredit the writer.
Slow? Come over to Europe. WiFi? Well we didn´t get blazing broadband long ago, didn´t we? And above all, Mobile web is NOT what you see in the desktop screen but in your phone. It is a completely different thing. Or is it IPTV the same as conventional TV but on your computer?
Honestly, the post is so shortsighted that I think you actually wrote it on purpose to generate comments and links...
Sotek
· 2 years ago
Mobile web has a long way to go. Well, we all know that already. Nothing new here.
Seriously, Russel Beatie nails it pretty well. Your arguments are weak, at best.
Bernie Goldbach
· 2 years ago
Just wondering if you would consider optimising your site for display on a mobile phone screen. There are excellent tutorials floating around that show the appropriate CSS structures.
PC-based devices are on their way. I use an Everun as a mobile web device (I do a LOT of mobile web and therefore its worth me taking a seperate device) but thats nothing compared to the size that we could see in 2008.
Once someone has written some decent software, decent mobile web will be with us and we won't have to bother about optimised web pages any more.
Steve UMPCPortal
David Cushman
· 2 years ago
It's all about understanding what services suit the computer in your pocket. It is a new media - not an old media squeezed on to a new one. Can I recommend Alan Moore and Tomi Ahonen's Mobile as 7th Mass Media paper. You can get a copy by emailing alan and asking. alanm (AT) smlxtralarge (DOT) com
Mark Evans
· 2 years ago
Scott, If you really want to experience bad wireless mobile service, come up to Canada where there's no such thing as real all-you-call eat data plans. When the iPhone eventually gets to Canada, do not be surprised to see many people go ballistic when they get their bills.
Dan Schawbel
· 2 years ago
You need some kind of zoom lense to see anything on a mobile phone...it's rediculous.
Tom
· 2 years ago
Agree with small screens. But speed is not an issu here in Europe where we have 3G networks all over [or nearly all over, growing fast anyway].
majax
· 2 years ago
Clearly a US centric post. The mobile market in the US sucks, but in the old world the mobile web is a reality. It works and it's reliable.
kl
· 1 year ago
Try OperaMini. Seriously. It solved all these problems!
It's a proxy that compresses pages before sending them on slow crappy wireless network.
It's a client that reformats pages to fit on small screen. It has zoom AND it wraps text to your screen width. No need for horizontal scrolling when reading.
BTW: iPhone isn't that bad. You can set up VPN+proxy that will remove ads and compress pages a bit (not as well as OperaMini though). Zoom is pretty useful and mobile Safari enlarges text, so actually you don't have to zoom that much.
lipton
· 1 year ago
I never had a good experience with Boingo Wireless
lawrence
· 1 year ago
Boingo Service is very flaky. I believe a GPRS service from BB is probably better if you are doing only Email.
tomas zeman
· 1 year ago
I think situation is getting better and better. I predict, that in future, more people will access internet from their mobile phones and owners of the sites will create mobile werindly versions before full internet versions.
All Comments
Consider the mobile web like th late 1990s WWW.
A lot of potential, but an equal amount of hype.
I agree - the mobile web is painfully slow, but it is a chicken and egg process.
I've used the iPhone and the Blackberry and as far as my usage goes, the iPhone is the best device to access the web. Also, IMHO there's no way you can get a bigger screen than the iPhone without looking like Flavor Fav!
What's beautiful about the iPhone is the ability to resize text, which allows for easier readability. And that is not available on any other device.
Just my 2 cents.
This means the friction for any form of mobile multimedia is very high, also that the much vaunted 2 bn mobile users is actually a "tower of babel" of mutually unintelligible protocols so no ne channel has a very high pull through
Anyway, we blogged it all on here last week :)
Search engines such as Yahoo are claiming that their transcoding solution makes it easier to view traditionnal websites from a mobile phone, but this is plain wrong for most sites. Website owners need to be educated and develop sites adapted for their mobile users, because mobile is a HUGE revenue potential.
What do you think?
From what I've heard, there are zillions of delighted mobile web users in bits of Asia. And I can't be alone in getting a thrill out of mobile apps in the UK.
So if it's primarily a problem you have with mobile browsing in the United States, perhaps you should qualify your childish whine?
For the sake of the rest of us, I hope you have less influence than Folio assess.
Unreasonable expectations will cause you many problems. Good luck with getting a real screen in your pocket, I'm sure those criminals will keep tricking you unitl you learn it ain't possible.
1) Web pages getting more complex. Ajax?
2) Not enough battery life on most mobile phones yet. The constant need to find an electric outlet!
There are a lot of problems with the mobile web, but you don't list any of them. I'm happy to enlighten you if you are interested.
I agree that mobile networks are slow. But there are ways to circumvent those. For example, have you tried Opera Mini beta. It the best mobile phone browser ever. Not only does it have great usability, but also does something intelligently. What Opera does is that it does not download the actual web site. It instead downloads the web page to their proxy servers and then optimizes and reduces the size of the page by approximately 70%. So ultimately the downloading and rendering speed of the pages on a mobile phone is highly increased.
I personally believe that future belongs to mobile computing. But yes it is takes time.
We will most likely see two parallel webs, one for regular computer screens, and one optimised for mobile devices. Many sites already have that, especially in Europe and Japan. But as usual, the US lags when it comes to mobile tech...
I have found that mobile Safari actually works really well for unoptimized pages, and I haven't found it to be as difficult as you suggest. I realize you must have tried it yourself, since you compare it to "surfing the web through a keyhole." Great metaphor. It must have been annoying for you. My experience is quite different, though. I surf the web on my iPhone all the time, and I feel like it adds as much to the experience as it takes away. I love to be able to double-tap and enlarge photos or paragraphs to fill the whole screen, then double-tap back out and move around. I love the way it steps me through forms. It helps me focus on one thing at a time, which I enjoy, and it's super quick to navigate.
So, here's why I think this matters: optimizing pages will help the mobile web, but before the iPhone made unoptimized pages look good and work well on a mobile device, I as a web developer had no desire to even mess with optimizing. But see, the iPhone has validated mobile devices as web browsing tools, and now I feel drawn to optimize my sites to make them look even better. Small changes to CSS make a big difference on the iPhone.
I think, thanks to the iPhone, we can be ready to see the mobile web "suck" a whole lot less. Time will tell if I'm right, but I think it's a trend worth watching.
Russell Beattie’s Weblog
http://www.russellbeattie.com/blog/five-reasons...
First of all he has no right to call the writer of this post a moron. Quite frankly who the fuck is Russell Beattle? And in fact who the fuck cares? Like he says "...because I can't shut up". Maybe he should really try. Either that or he should try and submit some intelligent comment to this debate. I will comment later on the five points discussed in this blog later. I would respond on Beatles blog but he has switch off comments. A real sign of a self righteous ass hole if you ask me.
Have a nice day
Jason
Paris, France
I'm on the 3G network in the UK, I'm able to stream Orb on my phone, access my desktop, browse the web, download podcasts and all on an N73. Never really had a problem with speed...
It's nice that for once you americans are behind us in something.
- The interface is just not intuitive
- There might be a psychological barrier for people to download new apps to their mobile phone (it's their private space)
- Lack of truly good services
If you're interesterd here is the article:
http://vanelsas.wordpress.com/2007/09/12/mobile...
Slow? Come over to Europe. WiFi? Well we didn´t get blazing broadband long ago, didn´t we?
And above all, Mobile web is NOT what you see in the desktop screen but in your phone. It is a completely different thing. Or is it IPTV the same as conventional TV but on your computer?
Honestly, the post is so shortsighted that I think you actually wrote it on purpose to generate comments and links...
http://www.russellbeattie.com/blog/five-reasons...
Seriously, Russel Beatie nails it pretty well. Your arguments are weak, at best.
http://www.umpcportal.com/modules/news/article....
PC-based devices are on their way. I use an Everun as a mobile web device (I do a LOT of mobile web and therefore its worth me taking a seperate device) but thats nothing compared to the size that we could see in 2008.
Check out this demonstrator:
http://www.umpcportal.com/modules/news/article....
and this size comparison:
http://www.umpcportal.com/gallery/v/var/Image7....
Once someone has written some decent software, decent mobile web will be with us and we won't have to bother about optimised web pages any more.
Steve
UMPCPortal
Can I recommend Alan Moore and Tomi Ahonen's Mobile as 7th Mass Media paper. You can get a copy by emailing alan and asking. alanm (AT) smlxtralarge (DOT) com
If you really want to experience bad wireless mobile service, come up to Canada where there's no such thing as real all-you-call eat data plans. When the iPhone eventually gets to Canada, do not be surprised to see many people go ballistic when they get their bills.
It's a proxy that compresses pages before sending them on slow crappy wireless network.
It's a client that reformats pages to fit on small screen. It has zoom AND it wraps text to your screen width. No need for horizontal scrolling when reading.
BTW: iPhone isn't that bad. You can set up VPN+proxy that will remove ads and compress pages a bit (not as well as OperaMini though). Zoom is pretty useful and mobile Safari enlarges text, so actually you don't have to zoom that much.
Thants what we do at our company.