Turns out the mobile web is just … the web
Russell Beattie should stand up tall and proud. The Yahoo! alum gave up a secure job (well, sorta secure) and a steady paycheck to tread the uncertain waters of the startup life, and unfortunately was sucked down.
He developed Mowser, a mobile web browser for small-screen mobile devices (OK, that’s a fancy phrase for cell phones). Mowser made big fat web sites small and lean for tiny screens and narrow pipes. (Example: check out Sparkplug9 in all its Mowser glory.)
But then iPhone showed us that the future of the mobile web was … err … the web. Not some “baby internet,” in His Steveness’ words, but the real internet. In your pocket. On your phone. On your iPod. And those of us who had tried to scrunch the web down onto our 2″ screens jumped up and said Amen.
Here’s how Russell says it:
The argument up to now has been simply that there are roughly 3 billion phones out there, and that when these phones get on the Internet, their vast numbers will outweigh PCs and tilt the market towards mobile as the primary web device. The problem is that these billions of users *haven’t* gotten on the Internet, and they won’t until the experience is better and access to the web is barrier-free - and that means better devices and “full browsers”. Let’s face it, you really aren’t going to spend any real time or effort browsing the web on your mobile phone unless you’re using Opera Mini, or have a smart phone with a decent browser - as any other option is a waste of time, effort and money. Users recognize this, and have made it very clear they won’t be using the “Mobile Web” as a substitute for better browsers, rather they’ll just stay away completely.
I can’t agree more … as unfortunate as it is for someone who’s sunk his life savings into making the web work in miniature.
In any case, he’s now looking for a job.
Someone will benefit by having him on-board. Not only is he new media savvy, he’s just spent his life savings figuring out what doesn’t work. Some smart company is going to be the beneficiary of that hard-won wisdom as he starts building what does.
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More analysis, insight, and general reportage:
ReadWriteWeb sort of agrees
Last 100 disagrees
Mobile Marketing Watch might want to buy Mowser
Another one hits the deadpool
Venture Chronicles thinks the mobile model is wrong
Larry Dignan at ZDNet mostly agrees
iPhone is a trojan horse for Mac software development
I’m watching VP of iPhone software for Apple, Scott Forstall, in today’s Apple Event.
He’s demo’ing the API and development environment, and my first thought was: this is a trojan horse for Mac OS X development.
Thousands of developers are going to want to write applications for the hottest mobile device on the market … and as they do so, they’ll all be learning how to program for a Mac, using the same tools - the same development environment.
This is going to pay dividends for many years to come.
iCapital for iPhone
This is a big, big deal:
KPCB’s iFund is a $100M investment initiative that will fund market-changing ideas and products that extend the revolutionary new iPhone and iPod touch platform. The iFund is agnostic to size and stage of investment and will invest in companies building applications, services and components. Focus areas include location based services, social networking, mCommerce (including advertising and payments), communication, and entertainment. The iFund will back innovators pursuing transformative, high-impact ideas with an eye towards building independent durable companies atop the iPhone / iPod touch platform.
“A revolutionary new platform is a rare and prized opportunity for entrepreneurs, and that’s exactly what Apple has created with iPhone and iPod touch,” said John Doerr, Partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. “We think several significant new companies will emerge as this new platform evolves, and the iFund will empower them to realize their full potential.”
“Developers are already bursting with ideas for the iPhone and iPod touch, and now they have the chance to turn those ideas into great companies with the help of world-class venture capitalists,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “We can’t wait to start working with Kleiner Perkins and the companies they fund through this new initiative.”
Let a thousand flowers bloom.
IMHO: Incremental but important
I’m sure everyone and his dog knows what Apple announced today at MacWorld:
- iPhone and iPod Touch updates
- Movie rentals on iTunes and new Apple TV
- Time Capsule backup appliance
- MacBook Air
There was no iPhone, no huge incredible surprise. But there was incremental improvement on a wide variety of fronts … and the new Apple TV is an amazing product that now I’m interesting in buying. (Though, once again, Canada has to wait for full service availability.)
There’s a lot in today’s MacWorld that’s going to make a lot of money for Apple.
Apple tablet - a huge iPhone?
Is this a marriage of convenience between an Apple iMac and a new Tablet, possibly (please!) to be announced at MacWorld in the next couple of weeks?
What a brilliant idea … portable tablet on the road, around the house, in the boardroom … and full-size keyboard, mouse, and line-of-sight positioning on the desk. The rough sketch is from an Apple patent application.
Sign me up for one!
Credits: I saw it at Nick Carr’s Rough Type, MacRumors, and MacNN.
However, they seem to be fitting it into the subportable notebook space. I personally wonder if it isn’t a tablet … a huge iPhone. The possibilities are intriguing … hook it in to charge up, take it out to lounge on the sofa catching up on blogs or watching your favorite TV online.
In the workplace, take it out to the meeting, take it out to the conference. Use the on-screen keyboard, use multi-touch, maybe even use speech. Back in the office, hook it in to charge, use your keyboard and mouse, and generally use it as a desktop computer.
A guy can always dream, right?
iPhone and greed
Ken Ollin is wondering if the biggest innovation in the iPhone is greed. At least, that’s the catchy title of his blog post.
What he’s really questioning is why the iPhone is a closed garden instead of an open software development ecosystem.
In response, of course, eager Mac users have responded with the usual flood of comments to anyone who questions Apple - mostly making good points about the software development kit that will be coming out in February or so.
But Ken’s post is still valuable, as I commented on his post:
A lot of people have made good points in the comments. The SDK, etc.
But … let’s not lose sight of the point (even if we are Mac fans - and I’m one too.)
The point is that the ecosystem is more important than an individual piece of software or hardware - and any individual company. This is the key insight that initially won Microsoft the operating system war, and losing this insight is what is costing Microsoft today.
The point for Apple: cultivate the ecosystem. The returns are huge multiples of what the closed garden generates. Apple is likely moving in this direction with the SDK.
But here’s why commentary like this is valuable: the ecosystem approach is not in Apple’s DNA. Apple *is* learning it, but true-blue Apple SOP is to go it alone.
An occasional reminder is a good thing for Apple - and a good thing for all of us who love Apple products and software and ethos.
Too cool iPhone physics game
1-year old using iPhone
This is bloody amazing:
(Saw it here.)
What really is the iPhone?
There’s a great column at Strominator that explains exactly what it is:
The iPhone is not a phone, its the first generation of a new type of computing device. One that will change how we view computing. One that will make our lives simpler. We won’t have to learn how to use applications, we’ll just use them. We won’t worry about launching applications, saving files, quitting — just using. Every other smartphone is still based on an archaic, cumbersome, paradigm taken straight from desktop computers. Drop-down/pop-up menus, programs, files — ugh. Look how bad Windows Mobile is, and most of us are used to the real Windows on our desktops. Why should a phone take minutes to just turn on? The alternatives are not much better. Mobile OSX, what runs inside the iPhone however, is a whole new beast. Intuitive, responsive, and an extension of the beautiful hardware that it runs on.
Which is not to say there aren’t issues … as the article also talks discusses.
iPhone in Canada, Please
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Sparkplug 9 is John Koetsier's blog on life, the universe, and everything,
but mostly the stuff you see big in the tags to the left.
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