The NY Times has another of those 'Mobile Web isn't living up to the hype' articles that have become so familiar since, oh, the late 90's when WAP came onto the scene. The NYT quotes statistics from Rethink Research, stating that data will make up only 12 percent of average mobile phone revenue per user in 2007. Further, surveys by Yankee Group show that "only 13 percent of cellphone users in North America use their phones to surf the Web more than once a month, while 70 percent of computer users view Web sites every day."
I have to admit I've only just become a Mobile Web convert, after purchasing an iPhone on my recent trip to the States. I now use the Mobile Web frequently, to check RWW and other sites during the day when I'm out and about -- or simply when curled up in the sofa at the end of the day, trying to relax.
So with all that in mind, it'd be interesting to survey how many RWW readers use the Mobile Web. Please participate in our poll below:
Listed below are links to blogs that reference this entry: Poll: Are You Using the Mobile Web?.
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A couple of amazing stats have been released about mobile phone use. Firstly industry analyst Informa Telecoms & Media revealed recently that worldwide mobile penetration will hit 50 per cent - or around 3.3 billion subscriptions. Informa estimated tha... Read More
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The question is a bit tricky. Not to sound like a fanboi or anything, but I played around with an iPod touch and a Palm TungstenT|X one weekend not too long ago, and was blown away by the different.
The typical "mobile" web, which would include Palm, Blackberry and all those others, was dismal. It could be a case that people don't know what they're missing. With devices like the iPhone, iPod touch and the Nokio N800 series that have actual browsers instead of minimal text navigation and poor rendering, I don't know why anyone would stick with a non-graphical browser to surf the mobile web.
I look forward to seeing what the future holds for the mobile web, but a majority of ways for reading that material at the moment is just awful.
Posted by: Eric Gruber | November 25, 2007 8:55 PMI use the mobile web daily. I read your blog on my Blackberry first thing in the morning when I wakeup at m.readwriteweb.com
Posted by: David B. Founder, MoFuse.com | November 25, 2007 10:14 PMPlease sort out the results by global area when it's done. That could well be where the most interesting conclusions are found.
Posted by: NatC | November 26, 2007 1:10 AMJust to clarify my "Yes, I use the Mobile Web daily" vote. By "mobile web" I mean the web I use on a mobile device. Not the mobile web design specifically for mobile devices.
The only "mobile friendly" site I use regularly is Digg. The rest of my mobile web usage consists of normal websites.
And it only became a usable experience on the iPhone. No other phone that I have used has come close.
Posted by: Paul M. Watson | November 26, 2007 2:13 AMI've been using Opera Mini on my phone for over a year now, it's free and cheap thanks to the data compression.
Posted by: Tom | November 26, 2007 2:27 AMI have a Nokia e61 and use it for surfing and grabbing email when out of the office.
I also have a few over phones to test my projects with.
The mobile web is coming along but its still 12 months away (I also said that 12 months ago).
I think the browsers such on most phones and thats what is holding the screen back. All that is needed really is for mobile firefox to be released and for handset makers to bundle it as standard and we are off.
Posted by: Darren | November 26, 2007 6:05 AMIt's weird to note that most people think about the iphone as the only handset to get a good mobile web experience.
Posted by: Giampiero Recco | November 26, 2007 6:25 AMThat's absolutely wrong!
Most XHTML enabled phone (so most recent ones) can display rich graphic and provide for very compelling user interfaces, the problem is that just few are exploiting all the handsets' capabilities.
As an example I can point you out to the mobile web site we have just released for one of the biggest radio station in italy, you probably will be surprised to see that it got a better and richer design even of most iphone-optimized mobile site around, and it works with most handsets. It's not a suprise for us to see thousands of (non geek) users cheking reguraly onto it to get info on what's on-air and to post to the forums.
The site is at http://m.rds.it
By the way, still no iphone in Italy, se we got no iphone optimized version to compare...
No, I browse when Im bored somewhere but there isnt any content I need to get at that Google's SMS search cant give me right now for free. I only have a 20min commute to work where I sit in front of a computer for 8 hours. I enjoy my 20mins of being detached! There just isnt a good enough reason to be on the net while on the go.
If I get picked as a winner in the Android competition... then maybe I'll browse a bit more ;)
Posted by: Jason | November 26, 2007 6:26 AMAs an earlier commenter mentioned, the geographical differences will be interesting. I've been using mobile versions of Facebook, Gmail, eBay and Twitter on my Sony Ericsson for a while - but now the iPhone makes it so much easier :)
Posted by: Lisa Price | November 26, 2007 6:37 AMWe recently hosted an event on the Future of the Mobile Web - those interested can read the slides and soon listen to the MP3s at the site www.future-of-mobile.com.
I think the question should be posed for users of the mobile web -- are you satisfied with usage of the mobile web.
I use it on a Blackberry 8100, but have difficulty navigating to where I want to go and I can't always find things as easily as I'd like. It might just be poor know how or lack of knowledge of sites to use on my end - but my gut tells me most sites aren't optimized for the mobile web and users don't always know where to look.
Posted by: Adam | November 26, 2007 7:56 AMI use a BlackBerry Pearl daily to read many sites on my way to work on the Bus. Prior to that, I used a T-Mobile MDA and a Sidekick II.
Posted by: Chris Brentano | November 26, 2007 8:04 AMAs someone who travels frequently between the US and Asia, what I have noticed is how common mobile web is in Asia. For instance in India the sale of smart phones is pretty brisk and I have noticed it is not uncommon for folks to use mobile web here. I tend to use mobile web when I am away from pc or laptop in India. But, when I am in the USA I tend not to use mobile web. I guess old habits die hard when I am in the USA.
kamla bhatt
Posted by: kamla bhatt | November 26, 2007 8:30 AMI have been on mobile web for 2 years. It's made my job and move transitioning from LA to SF so much easier and smoother. It would be quite hard to ever switch back to any kind of phone where I couldn't access email, driving directions, files, pictures and local information. I use google on my phone all the time to look things up. It is so convienient. I do access non mobile friendly sites, but it is a pain. I use a blackberry pearl and curve.
Posted by: Lorrie S. | November 26, 2007 10:08 AMOh, did I mention I am using my blackberry right now to read and comment on this article?
Posted by: Lorrie S. | November 26, 2007 10:12 AMWeb Ubiquity's one of my passions.
I use the mobile web since 2003, started with a Sony-Ericsson P800 & 56k GPRS connection(lol), already had Opera Mobile 6 running on it, it was a pretty nice experience, moved to windows mobile devices after that, used NetFront for a while, it even supports flash, but I'm back to Opera Mini 4 and Opera Mobile 8.65 for better compatibility(there's a beta that also supports flash, sluggish though, as it was with Netfront).
The experience provided by iPhone Safari browser or Opera Mini 4 is indeed better than the previous browsers(especially Safari of course), at least for finding info on a desktop-like rendering, but the lack of that feature never stopped me from browsing and retrieving the info I needed, just switch to column/fit-to-screen view, scroll and you find the info you're looking for, no biggie.
Posted by: lmjabreu | November 26, 2007 8:37 PMOh, forgot a couple of things, first, I agree with sorting the results by location, second, in 2006 I created a LoMoSoSo( conceptualized in 2005, final course project, working prototype & even a business plan), I also did a market research and very few people used mobile web, not many had a device capable of doing so, and those who did pointed out pricing and incentive(no cool stuff to browse, I'm talking about teens) as their main impediment, subjects(300) were Portuguese(16-24 yrs) living in/near the city(capital: Lisbon), if it matters.
I won't expose the business plan but unfortunately nobody sponsored this project, and there's still nothing like it out there.
Posted by: lmjabreu | November 26, 2007 8:52 PMyes, by all means... everyday... and on a blackberry pearl no less... single column of text works just fine... blogs, facebook, new york times, weather... very easy and with edge network, speeds are not an issue because the screen is small and graphics miminal.. richer experience? laptop or pc while in home office...
Posted by: jeff | December 4, 2007 7:44 AM