September 04, 2007 .MOBI: Making Strides 
The Internet’s really just about lots and lots of information. It happens to be that many of us access that information through web-based or desktop email clients and web pages. In many parts of the world, a mobile handset is a user’s only gateway to the Internet. No matter how big your screen, the lines are blurring between these disparate interfaces. Email, IM and social network messaging are becoming interchangeable, and web content is all over (think Twitter updates via SMS). We’re getting closer and closer to the promise of ubiquitous computing (think tricorders on Star Trek).
The iPhone’s launch has brought attention and sophistication to the mobile web. Whether or not you’re sold on Apple’s execution, you probably look forward to the enhancements on other devices that it will inspire.
My second cell phone was from SprintPCS in 2000. It had a web interface that allowed me to read predefined news selections. I can’t recall much else about it. I next switched to Voicestream and got a Nokia 3390 Gold, with AOL IM on it. I’m not sure if I had web access, but I did start text messaging with that phone. From there it was to Cingular to get the new (at the time - in 2004?) Nokia phone that unfolded to expose a full QWERTY keyboard that was split with the screen in the middle. I loved many things about that phone, but the email client was a clunky Java app and the web browser still left much to be desired.
Most recently, two years ago, I got a T-Mobile Sidekick II. Easy to use, the Sidekick has a cheezy interface, but offers POP email, AOL IM, SMS, and web browsing. The web browser on the Sidekick does not read mobile stylesheets. Instead it pulls content through Danger‘s server, formatting and positioning things down the narrow page. I use my Sidekick a lot, most often while on commuter trains. All of my email is copied to it, and I use IM when I’m away from the desk. I use the browser regularly to access sites like Google News, the Huffington Post, Google Reader (mobile), and Digg for the iPhone. I’ve yet to encounter a link I can’t click through and read in full. The only handicap is that I’ve disabled JavaScript to improve rendering times.
Now we have the iPhone with Mobile Safari that renders pages in full and allows you to zoom in and out to read regions of content. Opera Mini, found on Nokia phones and available as a download where Java apps are supported behaves similarly in its next version. Google leveraged the iPhone’s launch to be a real mobile player by embedding its Maps and YouTube apps onto the iPhone.
Now Google’s about to launch a mobile device.
What’s my point in all this? Critical mass is imminent. You can’t ignore this stuff anymore. I wrote about this a few months back and recently took a pass at formatting my content for the iPhone. While the potential offered by these devices is their improvements at making all web sites accessible on mobile, the real promise is in making content usable on them. Optimization. And to create an optimal experience, you need to understand the experience. I’ll likely gravitate toward the iPhone, perhaps replacing my Sidekick with one as my T-Mobile contract is up in November, and I’ve been a bit disappointed with T-Mobile of late. As I incorporate mobile into my practices, I’ll be sharing what I learn here, beginning with some recent announcements and resources I’ve been following:
- Put Your Content in My Pocket by Craig Hockenberry at A List Apart
- Mobile Web Design was released last week by Cameron Moll
- The iPhoney emulator which I, sans iPhone, used to develop C77Studios.com/iPhone
- Opera Mini Simulator - Opera Mini is a popular mobile browser. The simulator enables you to preview your site as it would appear.
- Apple Developer Connect - Web Development for iPhone
- Multi-Safari - If you’ve upgraded to Safari Beta 3 for testing iPhone dev, you can run older versions of Safari for your day-to-day testing
- Added 9/4/2007: The good, the bad, and the ugly - iPhone edition on WebStandards.org
If you’ve got any pointers or just want to connect on mobile development, email mjr@c77studios.com. You can also access my latest posts to del.icio.us and contact info at C77Studios.com/iPhone.
For more posts about mobile web development, visit http://www.c77studios.com/archives/category/mobile.
