yubee
10-15-2002, 01:52 PM
I wonder about this both personally and professionally.
Is the issue really making traditional web sites format better for viewing in a different size and shape window? Or is that a moot point? Is the issue better definied as providing relevant mobile/handheld content that is not only formatted for but recognizes the technological limitations of the platform?
I tend to fall on the side of the latter more often than not.
It seems to me to be a lesson learned from the development of the 'traditional Internet': That it isn't the right approach to try and figure out how to squeeze your existing web content into your mobile-compatible site, anymore than it was the right approach to try and squeeze your existing catalogs, brochures, and print ads into a web format.
It seems to me that the kind of data that 'one' would generally access from a mobile handheld device is different from the kind of data one would generally access from a desktop PC. There are certainly overlapping instances, but it seems to me that there are a limited number of examples where I see companies trying to take advantage of what a mobile users needs are, and provide fast, useful, and appealing content for those users.
I'm not sure that developing a better solution as a third party browser ever really addresses the issue. Certainly it gives early adapters interesting tools to play with, and allows regular web site people the opportunity to put off making a shortterm decision, however, ultimately, the end user will use the browser that comes with their device more often than not. No matter how cool a browser technology is, as a designer or developer, you still have to develop for pIE.
And no matter how you stack it, rotate it, squeeze it, stretch it, pinch it, stuff it, a series of 180k pages with multiple instances of elements designed to work in an 800x600 window, and be relevant to me sitting in my office or home while sitting on a high-speed connection at a desk, is not going to be the optimum format or content for my mobile device.
I certainly think it's an interesting topic of discussion, and I don't believe that my opinions on it are any more valid than anyone elses, just ask Mrs. Yubee...I've been wrong once or twice before. :D
But I do think that content formatting and in fact, the content itself are really a server-side issue, or maybe even a pre-server-side issue, not a client/browser side issue. Just my two cents.
What do you think?
Is the issue really making traditional web sites format better for viewing in a different size and shape window? Or is that a moot point? Is the issue better definied as providing relevant mobile/handheld content that is not only formatted for but recognizes the technological limitations of the platform?
I tend to fall on the side of the latter more often than not.
It seems to me to be a lesson learned from the development of the 'traditional Internet': That it isn't the right approach to try and figure out how to squeeze your existing web content into your mobile-compatible site, anymore than it was the right approach to try and squeeze your existing catalogs, brochures, and print ads into a web format.
It seems to me that the kind of data that 'one' would generally access from a mobile handheld device is different from the kind of data one would generally access from a desktop PC. There are certainly overlapping instances, but it seems to me that there are a limited number of examples where I see companies trying to take advantage of what a mobile users needs are, and provide fast, useful, and appealing content for those users.
I'm not sure that developing a better solution as a third party browser ever really addresses the issue. Certainly it gives early adapters interesting tools to play with, and allows regular web site people the opportunity to put off making a shortterm decision, however, ultimately, the end user will use the browser that comes with their device more often than not. No matter how cool a browser technology is, as a designer or developer, you still have to develop for pIE.
And no matter how you stack it, rotate it, squeeze it, stretch it, pinch it, stuff it, a series of 180k pages with multiple instances of elements designed to work in an 800x600 window, and be relevant to me sitting in my office or home while sitting on a high-speed connection at a desk, is not going to be the optimum format or content for my mobile device.
I certainly think it's an interesting topic of discussion, and I don't believe that my opinions on it are any more valid than anyone elses, just ask Mrs. Yubee...I've been wrong once or twice before. :D
But I do think that content formatting and in fact, the content itself are really a server-side issue, or maybe even a pre-server-side issue, not a client/browser side issue. Just my two cents.
What do you think?