Comments on: It’s the Experience, Stupid [Advice to Mobile Providers] http://www.krotscheck.net/2008/08/04/its-the-experience-stupid-advice-to-mobile-providers.html Michael Krotscheck's insights, ideas, and inspirations about web technology, life, and the kitchen sink. Fri, 03 Feb 2012 05:12:35 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v= By: Isaac http://www.krotscheck.net/2008/08/04/its-the-experience-stupid-advice-to-mobile-providers.html/comment-page-1#comment-669 Isaac Tue, 05 Aug 2008 22:29:02 +0000 http://www.krotscheck.net/2008/08/04/its-the-experience-stupid-advice-to-mobile-providers.html#comment-669 Well put Michael. Having recently bought an iPhone I can attest to them having got the formula mostly right. Some day I'm going to have to learn Objective C to write some of my own apps. Re: Kevin It is exciting that WebKit is being more broadly deployed on mobile platforms however, it is still very much in it's infancy. As of this writing it only ships on a very few phones available in the US, notably the iPhone, and Nokia N95. It is available for WinMo6 <a href="http://www.torchmobile.com/" rel="nofollow">http://www.torchmobile.com/</a>, which could open up the install base. But most phone on the market today have very limited processing, even my Nokia N75, a considerably better than average phone, had very poor responsiveness on most websites. But, as they say, innovation lives on the edges so thats still a gtreat place to be looking to for some new breaks. I'm inclined to think that the web based interface will always be less perfomant and usually have a poorer user experience than native or even bytecode compiled applications like java and flash because of the overhead HTML and JavaScript parsing and interpretation. But web apps are certainly easier to develop and will most certainly be where my first concentrated effort will lie. Well put Michael. Having recently bought an iPhone I can attest to them having got the formula mostly right. Some day I’m going to have to learn Objective C to write some of my own apps.

Re: Kevin

It is exciting that WebKit is being more broadly deployed on mobile platforms however, it is still very much in it’s infancy. As of this writing it only ships on a very few phones available in the US, notably the iPhone, and Nokia N95. It is available for WinMo6 http://www.torchmobile.com/, which could open up the install base. But most phone on the market today have very limited processing, even my Nokia N75, a considerably better than average phone, had very poor responsiveness on most websites. But, as they say, innovation lives on the edges so thats still a gtreat place to be looking to for some new breaks.

I’m inclined to think that the web based interface will always be less perfomant and usually have a poorer user experience than native or even bytecode compiled applications like java and flash because of the overhead HTML and JavaScript parsing and interpretation. But web apps are certainly easier to develop and will most certainly be where my first concentrated effort will lie.

]]> By: Kevin Hakman http://www.krotscheck.net/2008/08/04/its-the-experience-stupid-advice-to-mobile-providers.html/comment-page-1#comment-668 Kevin Hakman Tue, 05 Aug 2008 16:54:59 +0000 http://www.krotscheck.net/2008/08/04/its-the-experience-stupid-advice-to-mobile-providers.html#comment-668 ..and I forgot that the iPhone development plug-in for Aptana Studio also includes several Ajax samples for the iPhone showing the kinds of richer user experiences you can deliver today. more @ http://www.aptana.com/iphone ..and I forgot that the iPhone development plug-in for Aptana Studio also includes several Ajax samples for the iPhone showing the kinds of richer user experiences you can deliver today.

more @ http://www.aptana.com/iphone

]]> By: Kevin Hakman http://www.krotscheck.net/2008/08/04/its-the-experience-stupid-advice-to-mobile-providers.html/comment-page-1#comment-667 Kevin Hakman Tue, 05 Aug 2008 16:51:46 +0000 http://www.krotscheck.net/2008/08/04/its-the-experience-stupid-advice-to-mobile-providers.html#comment-667 re: "The best option these days seems to be building a Mobile website, which is a far cry from a good user experience." ... One major change in the Mobile Web ushered in by the iPhone (and I'm not going to talk about its SDK) is the WebKit browser, which powers the iPhone's Safari browser. What signficiant is that Webkit is now being put on to most of the forthcoming models of mobile phones. Have a ubiquitous and full featured browser on mobile devices is a hige advancement over the fragmented, feature-poor, and curious assortment of mobile device browsers in the past. Moreover Webkit supports Ajax development well paving the way to significantly better user experiences on the mobile Web. Thanks for mentioning Aptana and I know the focus of your post was not on the mobile browser apps, but one can certainly achieve a good user experince these days using Ajax techniques. Ajax libraries like iUI are optimal for Webkit and and mobile device screensizes. Moreover iUI now has Christopher Allen at its helm and is poised for further, signficant enhancements over the coming months. If you want to give iUI a try, Aptana Studio's iPhone development plug-in includes it (along with code asssit, mobile device web app debugger, iPhone screen preview and other userful features, or you can also just get it from the iUI site. --Kevin H @ aptana.com re: “The best option these days seems to be building a Mobile website, which is a far cry from a good user experience.” …

One major change in the Mobile Web ushered in by the iPhone (and I’m not going to talk about its SDK) is the WebKit browser, which powers the iPhone’s Safari browser. What signficiant is that Webkit is now being put on to most of the forthcoming models of mobile phones. Have a ubiquitous and full featured browser on mobile devices is a hige advancement over the fragmented, feature-poor, and curious assortment of mobile device browsers in the past. Moreover Webkit supports Ajax development well paving the way to significantly better user experiences on the mobile Web. Thanks for mentioning Aptana and I know the focus of your post was not on the mobile browser apps, but one can certainly achieve a good user experince these days using Ajax techniques. Ajax libraries like iUI are optimal for Webkit and and mobile device screensizes. Moreover iUI now has Christopher Allen at its helm and is poised for further, signficant enhancements over the coming months. If you want to give iUI a try, Aptana Studio’s iPhone development plug-in includes it (along with code asssit, mobile device web app debugger, iPhone screen preview and other userful features, or you can also just get it from the iUI site.

–Kevin H @ aptana.com

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