From Future Platforms, which specialises in content delivery to mobile devices
Used to work in web development, but got sick of it in 1999 ;)
Got into mobile market instead
A different perspective, as he’s never done any Ajax ;)
Analyst quote. The gist: “there are lots and lots of mobile phones”
Another view: convergence (Bill Gates)
What’s Web 2.0?
Reminded of “new media”, “4G”, “Java 5”, “New Ariel” - they describe what they’re not, rather than what they are.
It’s a marketing term of differentiation
What about mobiles?
Open data formats? Check. Or open standards at least, implemented well (c.f. the adoption of “modern” browsers took w3 standards from nice theory to good in practice)
No walled gardens? Erm, nope. But the gardens seem to work in the mobile world…
Online - to be connected to 30%+ of the human race
What’s it all about?
Communication between individuals, mostly pretty lowbrow ;)
Glancing (“I’m thinking of you”), gifting (“I saw this and thought of you” - MMS)
Personal entertainment. People want TV on their mobiles, for some reason! Also content production (camera phone direct to Flickr)
Info. on the move - (e.g. Google Local Mobile)
“I believe that the future of the Internet is mobile”
Web on mobile
WML (native.or transcoded)
XHTML-MP
cHTML (NTTDoCoMo’s own standard)
HTML (Opera browser on some mobiles)
Ajax (not yet, but being talked about) Appropriate on mobile? What about Flash Lite? Is Ajax a step backwards in that it’s trying to replicate desktop apps?
Google killed the pub quiz!
Some technical overlap between mobile and desktop web
The markup is only a small part of the pie
Existing web agencies sometimes view the mobile web as print designers viewed the web in the 90s
How is mobile different?
Network operators are very important - a love/hate relationship with the web industry
Device diversity - far greater than in the desktop world. No standard form factor. Need adaptive services. WURFL is your friend
Tight software/hardware integration - you can’t change your phone’s browser. Closed devices, without software upgrades and with slow hardware upgrade cycle.
Truly mass market: possibly 100% penetration in UK, >100% in other countries. Broad demographic reach. Less arrogant language towards consumers than the web (you don’t have to understand it in order to use it). Usability & design more important. QA more important, as things get installed on handsets.
Implicit commerciality. No “information wants to be free” ;) There’s a billing relationship: it’s commercial. Successful micropayment implementation. Economics are different due to limited radio spectrum
Context of use: private, personal, anonymous? Anywhere, anytime. “Disposition towards goal-driven use”. Good fit with the provision of medical care/advice.