Mobile-Centric Computing: How Mobile Devices, Apps Are Creating a New Web (
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Are you aware that we’re creating another Internet? It’s one that is mobile-centric
rather than Web-centric, and it’s going to continue and become more important
in the years to come.
The reason that a good part of the Web is being
recreated right before our eyes is summed up in one word: mobile.
If you use a mobile Web browser on your smartphone
and enter a traditional Website, the experience is less than positive. Most of
the time, it’s just plain awful. That’s because normal Websites are not meant
to be viewed on tiny screens using smartphones.
As a result, if a site has not been modified to
be “mobile-friendly,” the user typically gets a poor experience. Developers of
the popular Websites have already created—or are in the process of creating—mobile-friendly
versions of their Websites that provide a better experience when accessed
by someone using a smartphone.
It’s obvious that a small percentage of Websites
get most of the traffic. This means that the developers of those sites have already
spent the time and money to create a mobile version of those popular sites. Over
time, more of the “long tail” of less regularly accessed Websites will get
converted to be mobile-friendly. Recently,
a few companies like BlueTrain Mobile have developed tools and automated processes
to help companies create mobile-optimized Websites.
The
creation of mobile-friendly sites goes beyond the simple management of small
screens. The entire inventory of ads you see on smartphones is different
from the ads on the traditional Web. This inventory of ads is sold separately by
companies such as AdMob, MillennialMedia, iAd and Smaato. These businesses
focus on selling ads or providing ads on mobile-specific Websites.
So, the next time you use your iPhone or Android
or BlackBerry device to visit a popular Website, it’s more than likely the
experience will be acceptable due to the site developers creating a
mobile-friendly version for viewing on smartphones. You’ll also see advertisements
that are different from the ads that are on the traditional Web page when
viewed by a Mac or PC.
It doesn’t stop with the mobile versions of
popular and most-visited Websites. It goes much further and will continue for
many, many years until mobile-centric computing has become the center of the
information universe.
If you doubt this conclusion, just take a look
at what’s happening with mobile applications.
These applications have gone from zero to
hundreds of thousands in just a couple of years and will be in the millions
before too long. Why are so many mobile applications getting created? The
answer is very simple—mobile applications provide a better experience for users,
compared with what they see within a traditional Web browser. Application
developers are able to manage the screen and processing better. It looks and feels better.
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