Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Mobile Net - predicting the future

Don't you just love being proven right? What can be more rewarding and spirtitually uplifting than being proven right?

Two years ago, a colleague asked me what direction they should take regarding development of their application for "mobile delivery". At that time, I indicated that I thought their best approach would be to use a "browser centric" approach and that most likely the mobile browser to do that, was not yet available. My previous post seems to bear out my own prediction...and possibly my lack of research into what Nokia were up to...

In 2008 we are starting to see the "rumblings" of paradigm shift. 2009 should bring this shift into full swing as more and more companies begin to understand how prospects for their goods and services, find information and make buying decisions.

If you dug into the link to the Nielsen report mentioned in the Nokia article, you would see that for 86% of technology buyers, the Internet is where they shop. Where they buy is another story for another day, but that tells me that if you're in technology and you're not making it easy for your prospects to find information about your product...in the manner that THEY choose...then you are missing an opportunity.

Specifically, users are staying "connected" when they leave their ethernet tethered world. More and more they are carrying devices that will connect to the Internet from anywhere they receive a signal. To make it easier, new and faster signal choices are popping up on a regular basis as we all move from GSM and Wi-Fi to 3G, 4G, Wi-Max and beyond.

Add a persons "context" as Anssi Vanjoki from Nokia coins the phrase, using GPS and you've got a whole new way to offer your goods and services. The catch is that you need to think like the person on the other end of your information delivery tools...what are they using to view what you are presenting? Will it fit into a screen that is only 480x320 pixels? Are the images optimized and do they have alt tags in place if the users has chosen not to download images?

Lot's to consider...will you be ready?

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