Comments on: Is Australia Ready for the Mobile Web?

By: Andrej

Andrej — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 08:10:20 +0000

Great summary of the situation of mobile internet in Australia. I too have recently stumbled onto it, after long dismissing it as a waste of time. Opera Mini, in my opinion, has revolutionised web access on small screens, but there’s only so much it can do.

I absolutely agree with you that content providers need to step up to the mark and make their sites easily accessible.

I’ve recently written an article on my blog (Top 5 Reasons to Use Mobile Internet) discussing some of the more user-friendly content available in Australia. Your readers may be interested.

Regards,
Andrej

By: Greg Blocklayer

Greg Blocklayer — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 07:50:47 +0000

In some industries, mobile internet by phone will open up a huge new user base. In the construction industry for example, tradesman and contractors generally loathe computers. Mention a resource on the internet that can save them money and/or time and the simple fact of having to use a computer to access it will keep them as far away from it as possible.
BUT – Don’t tell them its internet/computer based, but they can just dial it up on their phone, and they’ll give it a go. (They all have phones)
So, the resources are deployed where they are most useful. Onsite where they are working. I’ve been waiting for this for ages

By: David Storey

David Storey — Sat, 16 Jun 2007 13:17:43 +0000

I'd recommend you to download the beta of Opera Mini 4 when it's released on the 19th. (http://operamini.com/beta) Like Opera Mobile, it now fully supports handheld and media queries, and reduces data traffic due to the compression it uses on the server. (Disclosure: I work for Opera)

By: Matthew Hartman

Matthew Hartman — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 23:22:02 +0000

Good article Gary, I quite enjoyed the read =)

By: Gary Barber

Gary Barber — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 23:49:02 +0000

Thank you all for the comments the mobile web really does remind me of the standard computer base web of the old days.

Point to note this discussion is NOT for a link fest to your latest Mobile based site. These comments will be deleted. You have been warned.

By: Denise leo

Denise leo — Sun, 10 Jun 2007 01:56:07 +0000

Hi, Read with interest your post. I am located in country Victoria. I am in the process of building mobile sites.

I have just started building

http://ozy.mobi-Australia on your mobile.

(Edit – removed various off topic links)

I am working on more mobi sites- including an art site, real estate site, and many more.
The problem that will hold back the mobile internet in Australia is the high cost of mobile internet usage.

By: Simone

Simone — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 16:10:01 +0000

Finally I managed a proper trackback

By: The Not So Secret Life of Simone

The Not So Secret Life of Simone — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 16:05:39 +0000

Mobile web…

Just quickly, in response to Gary’s post ‘Is Australia ready for the mobile web?‘
Well, we (Pascal and I) are not! I’m starting to realise how important it is, especially for sites like EnjoyPerth. Pascal isn’t exactly a w…

By: Meg

Meg — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 01:28:50 +0000

Hi Gary

Interesting discussion. I’ve been trying to research “made for mobile sites” in Australia, and haven’t had much luck. I first heard about dot mobi sites a few months back, but to date can only find a handful here.

Ben, .mobi sites aren’t that expensive to set up. I run a directory site called dLook, and a month or so ago we introduced http://dlook.mobi as a mobile business directory. And we’re far from a “telco”. We’re still tweaking it, but thought I’d mention it as an example of an SME who’s entered the space.Of course publicising it is a whole different challenge.

By: nick cowie

nick cowie — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 00:58:59 +0000

Ben, I disagree with you. I am sitting on the bus using my mobile. After checking the news on news.com.au, my email on gmail and my feeds on bloglines – all with special subsites just for mobiles.
Gary great post