Difficulties in designing Websites for mobile devices
Mobile devices were primarily used for sending brief messages, checking the weather, getting lists from the Web, getting stock quotes, placing orders on forms, reviewing documents, graphics development, or editing. The explosive growth of cell phones was powered by the revolutionary capability to provide (and receive) timely information anytime, anyplace reliably. This allowed, for example, the immediate updating of inventory through handheld devices, making plane or hotel reservations online from a cab in the middle of the George Washington Bridge, checking sports scores, updating forms, broadcasting messages all interacting with the Web world when physically away from a computer. The promise of the devices was increased productivity at times and in places that had hitherto been considered unavoidable dead spots in a worker’s day.
But, there are difficulties both in the transmission of data and the receipt and rendering of data. In the transmission of data, access to the Internet is not universal from every location. In addition, because of the different media involved, WAP is merely one in a long and varied chain of links from Point A to Point B, or Point A to Points B, QZ, and FFI. If a link goes down and connectivity is lost, that translates into time and labor lost because the information must be reentered and retransmitted. Network quality is not universal.
The needs of mobile users were found to be different from static Web users in that the devices were mobile and needed to have continuous Web access wherever the user might be. This would mean that in a warehouse where a worker was using a handheld device to check inventory, there could be no dead spots, or weak or intermittent access to the Web, or an intermediary server. Reliability and network connectivity are issues. Limited bandwidth is an issue. And there are human factors. Ease of use is continually proving to be an issue. There are not only physical limitations in the design of mobile devices, small screens, and keypads, but most users of handheld devices are less computer literate than their more sedate desktop-bound types. Last, better filtering and compression algorithms must be put in place to streamline content delivery.
Future of the Mobile Web
No one can predict the future of the Mobile Web. And we have no Edward Bellamy of the Information Age to come forth and offer utopian prognostications. But it would not be unreasonable to anticipate the following:
- There will be standardization of Web content delivery systems.
- There will be an abrupt reduction in the number cell phone manufacturers.
- There will emerge a few dominant wireless network technologies.
- The giants of today (such as Sprint, Verizon, and AT&T) will be knocked out by some unknown kids currently working out of their garages.
- There will be less of an issue with accessibility as wireless connectivity spreads.
- As network infrastructure develops, the slowness of Web access experienced by Blackberry users will cease to be a problem.
- Device capabilities will improve to match the needs of the industry.
In short, what the future holds for mobile devices is that the variety and number of services will continue to improve, bandwidth will increase, and costs will decrease as Web 2.0 comes to flourish.
People who looked at this item also looked at ...