[opendtv] Re: Another point of view on walled gardens
- From: Craig Birkmaier <craig@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 4 Feb 2010 17:04:20 -0500
At 2:29 PM -0600 2/4/10, Manfredi, Albert E wrote:
So it is simply FALSE to say that "you can't put humpty dumpty
together again." Maybe AOL can't get away with it anymore is much
closer to the truth.
The only thing backwards here is that you guys completely missed the
point of the story, not that the assertions of the author are correct.
The point that was being made is that today's Internet is beginning
to fragment because of the "limitations" of new mobile devices like
the Motorola Droid, Google Nexus, Palm Pre and the iPhone and iPad.
These limitations include scarce wireless bandwidth and limited
screen real estate, which can make loading and using many websites
time consuming and cumbersome. So we are now seeing mobile websites
emerge that are far less complex, while being optimized for small
screens.
At first, I was thrilled about the fact that Apple had figured out a
way to make it possible to view "feature rich" web sites on the
iPhone. I wanted to see the same stuff I see on my laptop. But I
quickly grew tired of waiting for complex pages to load; pages filled
with ads, and other bandwidth hogging features.
So I tried some of the sites optimized for mobile devices. For the
most part they provide a much better experience...
Does this mean the web is fragmenting in a negative way?
Perhaps, if you are web developer and have to add resources to
maintain multiple sites, although my sense is that much of this can
be automated via CMS using the same files on multiple sites.
The reality is that both web servers and clients are getting much
smarter. The "generic" web experience has not existed for quite a few
years, at least for more sophisticated sites. When you connect to a
site the client is identified and the content may be optimized for
that client. If you have left cookies behind the content/ads may even
be customized for you. I use the same bookmarks on my laptop and
iPhone, yet when I connect to some sites my iPhone is automatically
connected to the mobile version.
As we move to web based applications there will be far greater
linkage between server and client, just as is the case today with
many "Intranet" applications that connect employees to company
servers via Internet pipes.
Personally I don't see what is happening as a negative; if anything
it is usually an improvement.
The author also tried to leverage the wave of publicity surrounding
the iPad, by referring to it in the title of the story. Yet the iPad
is not constrained in terms of screen real estate; it should have no
problem - other than Flash - in rendering full featured sites, at
least when using a WiFi connection.
Still, it's fun to see how Bert and the usual suspects react to
stories like this...
;-)
Regards
Craig
----------------------------------------------------------------------
You can UNSUBSCRIBE from the OpenDTV list in two ways:
- Using the UNSUBSCRIBE command in your user configuration settings at FreeLists.org
- By sending a message to: opendtv-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word
unsubscribe in the subject line.
Other related posts:
