Re: UKNM: The next stage in the game - ?????

[Clay Shirky]

> > New devices must be designed to interoperate with the Web *as it

> > esists today*, or they will die

> 

> Except, of course, that you can't browse the Web as it is today from a

> device with a small screen. Anything smaller than half VGA sucks the big

> one, and even with something the size of a Psion 5mx it's a trial. So

> either:

> 

> 1. Designers get smart and make pages that can be viewed on very small

> screens with graphics off and still be usable, or;

> 2. You end up with a new protocol dedicated for mobile, small screen

> devices.

> 

> Given the prevalence of dumb "whizzy spinny" designers, option 2 is probably

> easier.


...but I'm betting that Option 1 is liklier - look for ecommerce sites

to show us which way it will break, given that _not_ designing to

maximum interoperability has direct impact on the bottom line. (Its no

accident that Amazon still runs on Netscape 2.0.) Faced with a choice

between rebuilding the web and simply repackaging it, repackaging it

is a lot easier.


-clay 

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