Comments on: Is the mobile web browser dead?

By: Yahia

Yahia — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 02:04:38 +0000

The last paragraph sums is up
“One thing to note, however, is that Gary Warren is the CEO of AppForge, a company that develops these rich applications.”

By: Shubham

Shubham — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 16:14:42 +0000

well, i think gary has used opera mini and i am guessing he liked it enough to reject it

i am a net junkie and to my misfortune i do not have a computer at home. opera mini meets my needs almost 60 - 70% and 95% of my critical web needs like gmail and online trading (yes i trade in equities through opera mini). BTW mini is better than gmail’s rich application.

i wish i had a nokia symbian phone so that i could use opera mobile.

By: minisu

minisu — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 14:38:49 +0000

This pisses me off! Rich Applications just seem so stupid to me. We now finally have a platform independent and dynamic web (ajax, html, css) that’s capable of deliver smart service like Google Maps and Widgets etc. Should we now just abandon it and doing everything seperately/manually and non-standardized?

What also confuses me is how CNET and similar media companies can still got such a large impact on the technical development. This guy is obviously just doing some marketing for his company. From their web site:

“Mobile Application Platform
Create customer-facing and custom enterprise mobile applications that will run on all leading smartphone devices.”

By: Rhonnysparks

Rhonnysparks — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 10:51:23 +0000

Rich applications sound like where widgets are hopefully headed. Being able to have both rich applications and a mobile browser is the ideal solution and I think Opera is aiming for that.

By: Adrian Lee

Adrian Lee — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 10:27:06 +0000

Maybe someone should write an article called Shattering illusions about Cnet. I’ve always found their reporting to be poorly researched and generally inaccurate.. As far as I’m concerned, their opinion on anything is useless, because it seems, either they do not know the subjects they write about well enough, or they just go for the punchy headlines and content, regardless of the distorted reality it points to.

By: Investor

Investor — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 03:32:40 +0000

The *richest* of all mobile internet applications, is the mobile Web browser… The Web, my choice… better than… The web, your choice…

Agree with @Kelson

By: Kelson

Kelson — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 19:47:21 +0000

Something Warren neglects to consider is casual use. It’s one thing to install a couple of apps for a couple of services you use frequently (say, your bank and ebay). But what if you want to look something up on Wikipedia? Does Slashdot need its own app? If I want to check for new posts on blogs, should I have to install a separate application for each blog that I follow?

The editorial is a great example of applying tunnel vision to a false dilemma. Not only is there plenty of room for both a browser and rich clients on mobile devices, but he completely misses the one big advnatage the browser has over rich apps: I can visit 30 different services with one browser, instead of installing 30 different apps.

While we’re at it, the limitations he sees in the browser, like slow connection speeds, aren’t going to be there forever — and in some cases are already gone if you look outside the US. IIRC, the available bandwidth on mobile networks in Japan, for instance, far outstrips anything we have here.

By: Kc4

Kc4 — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 19:44:45 +0000

The real question is “Did the mobile browser ever live?” the answer for Canada is NO! Although some business men used it, and my Dad used WAP (until Rogers took away the Mail to WAP service). Although Bell (and by extension Solo) have unlimited mobile browsing it doesn’t seem to have caught on. Then again the people I have found are still amazed by the whole “flip phone” thing. Rogers is pushing BlackBerry (and related devices) for Business, but “4 GB MP3 Phones” to everyone else. I think the slow take up of mobile browsing here comes from the history of the cellular phone take up.

In Alberta there are places and situations (especially in winter) where having a cellular phone really does make the difference between life and death. This makes the mobile phone a tool and not a toy. Landline telephone’s are seen in a similar light. Although this may not be true in Urban areas (I of coarse have a Rural bias).

By: Eddie

Eddie — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 18:59:03 +0000

Corporate SmartPhones*

Most IT policies for BlackBerry and Treos will allow mobile browsing, but installing apps is another can of worms that IT is more strict about opening. So it’s likely a mobile browser will probably remain the cornerstone of smartphone connectivity for some time. Although it’s changing more and more towards consumers, when thinking about smartphones, you shouldn’t just dismiss the corporate evironment.

*Yes- you can get mini on any phone. But the UIs of the smartphones are often easier to browse with as they have browsing built in by design