In 2008 the world went mobile. The minute Nokia stopped trying, it finally happened. Where billions of investment in WAP, GPRS, the N and Communicator series failed, it took just a marketing campaign by Apple to bring about the most-anticipated technologycal breakthrough in the history of the world. And after years of hype, when it happened it still took most of the world by surprise.
The mobile Internet that erupted in 2008 is not the parallel universe favoured by phone manufacturers and networks. It is the same internet we’re all used to from our PCs, packed into a convenient device and always aware of its owner’s name and location. iPhone and netbooks like the eee PC on flat-rate access plans rather than metered mobile phones are the devices of choice.
Interestingly, the companies that brought it about have no roots on traditional Mobile markets. Apple -a company that understands innovation is all about what users experience- and Asus -brilliant at packing a 7-inch digital frame, a cheap laptop chip and linux into a revolutionary new PC format, the netbook.
Just the other day, as we waited at Gatwick for an easyJet flight to start boarding, I bought another ticket on Clickair’s main website using just my iPhone. After that, I had a look at the latest iPlayer content and called my mates for free to confirm landing time using my Skype unlimited subscription via Fringe. Try and do that on a Nokia with no Javascript and paying per each Megabyte…
Hands down, Apple’s app store wins by a mile. It’s a huge selection of all sorts of apps vs a rather sad selection of a handful for Zune. Microsoft has plans, especially in the realm of games, but I’m not sure I’d want to bet on the future if this aspect is important to you. The iPod is a much better choice in that case.
Are there any more sites on similar topics that you recommend reading? I find this very interesting 🙂
I’m not sure where to recommend, really. The world of mobile is now crowded with so many different blogs it’s hard to pick one or two to recommend.
Hey! Would you mind if I share your blog with my twitter group?
There’s a lot of people that I think would really enjoy your content. Please let me know. Thank you
Of course, thanks for sharing!