End Mobile Browser Sniffing and Give Consumers Choices

Photo by John Pastor

The iPhone has completely changed how I interact with information on the go. When I travel I leave the notebook at home. I take the iPhone, an Airport Express for the hotel room (or anywhere) and an APC power pack for heavier use days. Everything else lives on a 8 GB USB stick or "the cloud." The exception is if I think I am going to need to create or edit rich content, like a Powerpoint deck.

Still, for all of the enthusiasm about the iPhone and it's ability to browse most of the broader web, it's made me realize that there will always be a place for the mobile Internet. More than two-thirds of the time I am accessing the web from my iPhone, I am connecting to mobile or "iPhonized" sites that are in between the stripped down versions and the real thing. This includes when I am using wifi. I have two bookmarks for many of my favorite sites - one for the mobile or iPhone-specific version, another for the real thing.

That's bad news for web developers who are hoping that one day they won't need to re-code sites for handheld devices. The problem is they will always have to even if broadband is truly ubiquitous. The reason is cell phones and other gadgets are designed to fit in your hand. It doesn't matter if it's a PSP, a Treo or an iPhone or whatever comes next. From a UI perspective, mobile sites work beautifully on phones - as do information apps if the platform supports it.

This means web sites increasingly need to give consumers a choice when browsing from a mobile device. Many do not. They "sniff" what browser you're using and then serve up the site that will give you the best experience. The problem is that browser sniffing, particularly on devices like the iPhone, doesn't work because it supports all page formats. (Big disclaimer here: Edelman represents dot-mobi, but I don't personally consult to them.)

Consider weather.com, for example. The popular weather site determines your browser and then serves up a site that's best formatted for it. Enter the iPhone, however. There are times you want to browse the lite version and other times you want the big daddy. Unfortunately, they don't give you a choice and this in particular has caused some iPhone users to get upset.

On the opposite end of the spectrum is digg. You can browse the full version, a mobile site or an iPhone flavor. You get to decide.

The mobile web is far from dead but consumer choice is just as critical as these devices get more sophisticated.

Comments

[Mitch Brisebois]

On our blog, we've created a "UX Slider" right now a simple 3 button tool that slims or expands the user experience. I found it to work fairly well on my ipaq (WM5)... but sometimes Wordpress does lock you into mobile if you have that plugin installed. I can image this to be even more frustrating on an iPhone!

http://sensorymetrics.com/2007/02/17/the-ux-slider-choose-your-experience-part-2/

[Bruce Swedal]

I have been reading many good things about the Iphone since it was released. I still have not made the move to it, but I can see that happening. Thanks for the points you make!

[David Scott Lewis]

Steve, Steve, Steve. This is yet another article/column/post that demonstrates how little you really understand or know about what's going on in this space. You, Arrington and Scoble, the Troika, don't have a clue about what is happening behind the scenes, beyond the next product release.

There is so much work being done on UIs and UXD for mobile/pervasive devices that it's nauseating. Matter of fact, the volume of work is overwhelming: I was finding nearly 100 scholarly articles -- and reading over 25 -- each month. Way, way too much. As you know, the mobile internet is, in many ways, hotter in China. Chinese people would rather have there spouse cheat on them than to lose their mobile phone!! And it's not hard to get contracts from U.S. firms to work on mobile apps. The problem we (Startech Global, startechglobal dot com) faced was that most of the UI/UXD work is still done in the States, so it's just the embedded apps programming that is offshored to China. (In the embedded sector, China is a much better option than India, whereas in enterprise apps, the gap between India and China is widening in India's favor. China, in large part due to its huge manufacturing prowess in all things mobile, lives for firmware.)

I guess you didn't go to SIGCHI in late April. Too bad. Regardless, there is so much UI/UXD R&D for mobile/pervasive devices, that I wouldn't be too concerned about anything, i.e, about a lack of UI/UX options for just about any mobile device. What has been lacking was a "killer"device (in essence, a device with some perceived ubiquity) to justify focusing on one particular platform. Unlike you, I am NOT convinced that the iPhone is this platform. But if it is, there will be plenty of tech transfer from academia to the device itself.

BTW, you're missing the big picture on this. It isn't about the UI/UX, it's about the iPhone as a KM device. This is where mobile devices will struggle. Getting the right UI for a mobile device will be done, no question about it. Way too much research to solve this problem -- and it has been solved, for all practical purposes. But there has been relatively little research in how to turn the mobile device into a knowledge management system or personal digital library. We can certainly hack it, but the hacking solutions are hardly optimal. There's also the issue of collaboration, rather than mere communications. True, communications are the killer app, but collaboration is the "killer opp" -- the killer opportunity. And mobile devices are hardly optimal for collaboration. Again, hacks can and will help. But they're weak compared to what can be done on a laptop, tablet or desktop.

Hence, as collaboration tools evolve, you'll once again need to drag your laptop with you. And as more and more airlines offer WiFi and battery life improves (or, we all buy extended life batteries), expect to be lugging around your laptop.

One thing that concerns me is that my laptop is fairly large and since I have to travel economy (hey, I work for a Chinese company -- EVERYONE travels economy), when the guy in front of me decides to recline his chair, I can only use my laptop in a very awkward position, kind of like pivoted on my thighs. A smaller laptop would help, but I prefer the larger display (and more powerful system) at all other times. But here's where an iPhone or other mobile device might have legs, i.e., during a flight. Laptops are no fun to use during a flight; a mobile device would be much, much better. So, I'll still need to bring my laptop, but I can use the mobile device when I'm in flight, in a taxi, whatever.

BTW, I've done this for a while with my smartphone (which is nothing more than a glorified PDA since I live in China and the phone only works on the Sprint network): Read and do some basic document editing, check feeds, this sort of stuff, while I'm in flight. Sync with my laptop after I land. Works for me. This might be the role for an iPhone, too, but it really doesn't entail leaving your laptop at home.

Finally, I'm surprised you haven't been fired yet, Steve. First the PC magazine fiasco several months ago and then it dawned on me that you show your Facebook photo when their mortal enemy, MySpace, is an Edelman client. Transparency is one thing, stupidity is another. You're walking a very fine line, Steve. It's definitely NOT worth losing your Edelman position simply to tout your Facebook Jihadist beliefs. Let's face it, in two or three years (maybe sooner), you'll be off and running on yet another social network. Why lose your job in the process? At the very least, you should include your MySpace contact info. Yes, you have your LinkedIn info (and we're first degree connections on LinkedIn), but Facebook's mortal enemy is MySpace, at least at this point. For you to show your Facebook photo and to provide a Facebook link is like telling your client that they're nothing but crap. Bad move, Steve.

[Gerald Buckley]

Had to go and upsell me on an Airport Express didn't cha!? Like you I've been leaving the MBPro and iPods at the office for the day trips. Yep, iPhone's melded the two nicely enough for me to lighten up. I can absolutely see the need for the Express tho even when I'm overnighting it. Thanks for that tip. Hope all's well.

[Mauro Turcatti]

I'm so upset I won't be able to purchase an iPhone here in Italy before next year. ARRRRRGGGGGGG!!!!

[Eric Hansen]

David, for all the development you say is taking place for other, more mobile-centric countries, that doesn't detract from the main point of the post that a dearth among a majority of Web sites of consumer choice over the browsing UI.

Although you make many interesting and thoughtful points about collaboration as the "killer app," I don't see collaboration as a mainstream selling point -- at least no more than mobile devices already allow us to "collaborate" with our family/friends through a simple call or SMS.

Finally, your comment was long enough without the off-topic personal jabs at Steve in the coda. They only serve to subtract what you added with your insight.

[acordabrasil]

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[James Pearce]

I think you're right. Consumers should have a choice, and it's not that crazy that they can use the domain to indicate that choice. (I *choose* amazon.co.uk because the products are more relevant to me in the UK than amazon.com)

Been to an airline web site on your iPhone recently? It works perfectly. You can read about their new flat beds. You can read about their co-branded credit card. You can read the history of the airline company. All beautifully draped with dreamy cloud backdrops and slick menus.

Right. But you're mobile. You're probably in a hurry. Let's face it, you are only really looking for the flight status of the plane you're rushing to catch. The fact you've gone to the effort of navigating to this company's site on your mobile suggests that you are on a mission.

In other words, multi-site site design is essential. Not because the browser on the phone is challenged in any way (although of course they still are right now). But because there's a human being on the other side of that screen who is in an entirely different context to those sat at a PC - and who deserves to have, by default, the functionality most suited to his or her mobility.

So it makes a lot of sense to have both .com and .mobi sites (which I think is what you're implying). The former is still available to all - including those mobile users (presumably with time to kill) who really *do* want to read about the new flat beds. But the latter provides, by default, a slick, efficient, well-crafted set of services relevant to the user's very specific mobile usage context.

James
(CTO dotMobi)

[Tripp Fenderson]

Despite David's long-winded notes above about the UI/UXD work that's being done, Steve's point remains true. There's no need to wait for any more research in the space to filter down to most businesses in order to give consumers a choice.

Businesses that have invested in mobile editions of their sites can and should make a simple change to their browser sniffers to point mobile devices to a page that grants them access to all flavors of the site based on the user's current needs/wants.

I'm continually frustrated by sites (even those of company where I work) that make the assumption that because I'm on an iPhone, I want a stripped down, mobile version of the site.

[David Scott Lewis]

Actually, I didn't disagree with Steve's main point. My point was that it's a problem that will be solved.

Where I disagreed with Steve was when he said that he can leave his laptop at home and rely solely on his iPhone. This is naive. I tried this with my smartphone (it's the first second generation smartphone, a Samsung unit). I had all the goodies for it; you name it, I had it. And my Graffiti capabilities were pretty good: I was inputting at the highest level in one of the Graffiti games. Sure, relying on an iPhone might be doable for a day trip, but not likely for any extended period of time.

My other point is that he's arguing a temporal issue: Because of all the R&D done in the UI/UXD space, we'll see a host of solutions -- once there's a platform to work with. Right now, most things are piecemeal, developed for all sorts of platforms, and it's not likely that a lot of UI/UXD researchers have an iPhone to play with; too expensive.

And, although there are die hard iPhone fans, there are a lot more users of Windows Mobile devices. Hence, I would expect to see solutions for Windows devices way before I would expect to see them for the iPhone. Hacks for the iPhone, yes; transfer of real technology, no. Windows Mobile beats the iPhone in what can be expected. Yep, there will be plenty of iPhone Jihadists, just like there are plenty of Apple Jihadists in general. But that's more about noise level than reality.

Oh, and the point about Steve and Facebook and MySpace: Long overdue, but I agree that this may not have been the best place to discuss it. Something I should have said in one of his Facebook posts.

[David Scott Lewis]

One last thing (I hope). As an AlwaysOn network blogger (i.e., columnist), I'm writing a piece for AO titled, "Arrington, Rubel and Scoble: Three Monkeys in a Tree." Although the title hardly sounds flattering, Steve comes out on top ... by far.

I have a helluva lot of respect for Steve. He works for a real company, a well-respected company, and has an influential position within Edelman. In contrast, PodTech will die and Scoble was near the bottom of the Microsoft food chain; Arrington was at the right place at the right time and doesn't have any real credentials relevant to this space besides TechCrunch.

My criticism of Steve was, in fact, not criticism at all, but merely an observation and warning. Think about it: Does having his Facebook photo on this page make a lot of sense when MySpace is an Edelman client? It's poor judgment. He's not Kevin Rose or Michael Arrington doing this own thing; he works for a real company with real clients and he needs to protect the image of his company, not just demonstrate transparency for his blogging buddies. At the very least, he should post his MySpace contact info, too.

[Dave Kebb]

And then there is the Iphone versus Opera mini line of discussion...

Opera mini will serve you up the sweetest page you could wish for

Here are the comparisons
http://www.google.com/search?name=f&hl=en&q=opera+iphone

I can do the same things as you, Steve, with a $30 handset and a cent of pay-as-you-go time. The browser beat the (pretty) monster to it.

DK

[Peter Cranstone]

I think your all missing the point. It shouldn't be up to the user to decide what to display on the mobile device. The mobile device should be able to send the real time device and terminal capabilities to the web server and then be served the correct page. The reason we can't do this at the moment is because you can't query the target device in real time to see what it's doing at that moment and or what it's capable of doing. User_Agent needs to be more contextual and support real time dev/term capabilities. Then you can start delivering mobile web services that give the consumer a great experience.

Cheers,

Peter