Why Are People Still Focused On The Wireless "Web"
I thought people had given up on the silly idea of the “wireless web” years ago. That was back when folks like Sprint PCS were trying to erroneously convince everyone that they had shoved the entire internet onto your mobile phone. It turns out that (a) they didn’t do that and (b) even if they had, that’s not what people wanted to use the web for. So, why are we still seeing articles quoting analysts talking about how the “wireless web” is a failure. For years, we’ve been saying the issue isn’t about taking the web and making it wireless – it’s about taking advantage of the unique features that wireless has to offer and building applications to support them. That’s what the rest of the article discusses. People aren’t talking about using the wireless web to read web pages on their mobile phones – though, in some cases they do want to do that. The real benefit is in things that are specific to the phone – text messaging, ringtones, location-based services, etc. When it comes to web surfing, the “wireless web” is increasingly using a laptop and WiFi or a 2.5/3G connection.
