(keitai-l) Re: Will the HTML browser take over?

From: Renfield Kuroda <Renfield.Kuroda_at_msdw.com>
Date: 03/05/01
Message-ID: <3AA2D382.1EBAC8BB@msdw.com>
Daniel & Michiyo Helmer wrote:

> As for the technical and design limitations of this scenario, I'd like to hear some comments from content developers and others from this list. Is the HTML browser a realistic option at this point? (or anytime soon? ever?). Isn't the c-HTML browser already sort of the mobile version of the HTML browser? Here are a few odd quotes from the paper that could help get you started:
>
>   a.. "[using the HTML browser] application developers are relieved from coding issues, as the display on the mobile device will mirror the one on the desktop".

Desktops and portable devices demand completely different interfaces for the same information -- while using the same HTML is helpful, you still need to rethink and redesign depending on target platform. HTML is not a magic bullet.

>
>   b.. "WAP's main competitor, DoCoMo's i-mode, is also a licensed technology that is being offered to a select few. To date, it has targeted very large, powerful, vendors based predominantly in the US" (this one, I can't make much sense of...)

Proprietary this, proprietary that...this argument has been hashed to death. Grep the archives.

>
>   c.. Due to its low bandwidth requirements and the existing infrastructure, WAP is likely to remain as the lower cost option. For user requirements where only simple functionality and text based output is needed, WAP may deliver more value relative to cost compared to mobile HTML browsers.

No, actually that's what SMS is for. No one uses WAP as a low-cost text-only alternative.

>
>   d.. "This new infrastructure [GPRS & 3G] will enable the complete Internet to be delivered over wireless means"

You can already deliver "the complete Internet" on i-mode (or even GSM if you really wanted to). The real issue is: does anyone want the whole Net on their phone?

>
>   e.. While applications that are country or organization specific may still be utilized, it's likely to prevent a complete 'open and mobile' experience for users who anticipate unrestricted access as per their WWW Internet experiences.

Users don't care about open and mobile. Users want cheap and useful. That means targeted for local users, in a local language, on a local operator's network. And for the 99% of mobile users who rarely travel out of their home city, they really don't care whether their phone works in Uzbekistan, Texas, and Hong Kong.

r e n



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Received on Mon Mar 5 01:34:00 2001