DaxThink: Digital life

In a recent ZDNet article there is a discussion on the Google announcement that there has been an acceleration of mobile Internet activity, heralding the era of the mobile has finally arrived.

As an agency we must be very careful with definitions and expectations when we talk to our clients to avoid confusion. What the industry has been waiting for is an increase in mobile phones accessing typically WAP pages on the go. Whilst this seems to be increasing I believe that it will be overtaken by 'Internet on the go' before it becomes really established.

The arrival of the iPhone that browses real web pages and the significant increase in 3G data cards for laptops means that there will be more access whilst away from the home or the office but it is likely to be of full experience 'real' web pages, not of WAP pages, and hence not within the perception of what mobile Internet means.

One of the last differences between a mobile phone (including the iPhone) and Internet on the go through a laptop is that mobile devices still lack the ability to render Flash content. This is being addressed, and once complete, it could be argued that the chapter of 'Mobile Internet' will be closed and we will have moved firmly into the chapter of 'Internet on the go'.

We will be asked to engage in mobile more and more for our clients and must take this into account.

RIP Wap.