(Mobility != Mobile Internet)!!!
One of the overall themes at Mobile 2.0 was some people saying “the browser is the most important thing to pay attention to in the future development of mobility.” Which was normally followed up by someone else saying “Hey! Mobility isn’t all about just making the web mobile.” I’m not sure that the common ground there was ever really found, despite the fact that both sides had only slightly different takes in reality.
The “browser is the most important thing” folks don’t want to just take the normal web and jam it down. They’re also interested in how to expose device native functionality to browser based applications. It’s not that what browsers do today should be the only way we interact with mobiles, but that the patterns, models, and methods that have made web based applications rapidly evolve would be great to emulate in mobile. That doesn’t mean that other methods of mobile development don’t exist, or that all the mobiles should be are scaled down web browsers. But that the best way to grow the ecosystem and find the fantastic mobile applications is to crack open the development model the way the web has gone.
And just because the browser is the most important thing that doesn’t mean that all of mobility is about making the web mobile. “Most important” does not mean sole and only area of possible improvement. Sure, there’s plenty more to mobile than the web. But the web makes interesting things happen cause it’s built on standards that are for the most part beyond the control of manufacturers, software vendors, and carriers. Access to address book/contacts functions was something that came up over and over, some folks even started kicking around the idea of forming some kind of alliance around standardizing open access to contacts. Even if the browser isn’t the way to standardize access to these functions, I think the web could provide the model for how to get to a standard when we don’t already have one.
October 18th, 2007 at 8:49 am
More generally, “Web != Browser”
This mistake occurs across the spectrum — I’m constantly surprised at how many people supposedly working in the “3d web” space think “3d web” means a browser window pasted onto a 3D rectangle (rather than interactive web-connected links in 3D objects).
Is it just a misunderstanding of what the web is? Or the fact that technology growth attracts money which often attracts a lot of unimaginative people? (or do I just need more coffee and a less cynical attitude?)
October 18th, 2007 at 9:05 am
Good point Kevin, I think it’s just polluted terminology actually. I guess the effect of money flowing in contributes to it, but there’s also a tendency to try to simplify things as they cross over into the consumer arena. The web is solidly there, so the terminology around it has tended toward the lowest common denominator. There’s lots of good things about that, but also some bad.
October 18th, 2007 at 9:26 am
The debate also reminds me of mobile client app (say, J2ME) vs. mobile internet app.
At the moment, true mobile broadband access it not universal yet, mobile client apps still have a clear advantage over mobile internet apps (think native iPhone apps vs. iPhone Web apps).
But in my past job, I have seen early handset prototype by major manufacture where the basic handset UI is done via standard such as HTML and CSS, so at least some of them are aware of the possibility.