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Preserving One Web

Continued from page 1

By Erica Naone

Friday, November 16, 2007
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The W3C's current suggestion for people writing Web pages, Womer says, is to separate information about how to present content from the content itself. The content can be described through hypertext markup language (HTML), the language traditionally used to describe Web pages, while the presentation can be handled with separate style sheets. Womer says that the W3C is collecting information about devices so that developers can tailor the presentation to the capabilities of the hardware.

The W3C's new tool, called the mobileOK checker, will look over code to see how well it follows the W3C's guidelines. Womer says that the tool won't be able to assess everything--some things, such as determining the readability of text against a background color, require human judgment--but it will consider a great deal of variables and provide specific instructions for what needs to be fixed.

"The importance of standards cannot be overestimated," says Jon von Tetzchner, CEO of Opera Software, who is working with the W3C's mobile-Web initiative. In addition to making browsers for desktop computers and mobile devices, Opera makes browsers for the Nintendo Wii and other game systems. "To deal with the complexity that is out there, there can only be one Web," von Tetzchner says.

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mobile internet mobile phones

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Comments
  • Hello? It's already here...HELLO?
    Curious to know what happened in the scheme of things and W3C acceptance of .mobi?

    http://www.w3.org/2006/11/mTLD.pdf

    Standards regarding this very subject are already in place.

    Take a look at some sites:

    SDCA.mobi - San Diego traffic, weather, and surf reports.
    Boroughs.mobi - Whatever there is in NYC, it can be found here.

    These are not only sites viewable on the mobile device, they were MADE for the mobile device and work EQUALLY WELL on the PC. That is where this is all headed. With smart phones outseling PC's 4:1, sites devoted to mobiles need to be mobile friendly first, then PC friendly.

    Not only are mobile devices outselling PC's, they already out number PC's with 3.5 million subscribers with that number expected to double by 2010.

    So where is the mention of .mobi in this message? Or has that been edited?

    Each mobile compliant site works on ALL mobile devices, regardless of browser and maker. Apps are also being made and accepted by Apple for the iPhone.

    A mobile readiness test/emulator is already in place.

    http://mtld.mobi/emulator.php

    What happened with the rest of the story?

    Mobile Industry Leaders Agree on Best Practices for Mobile Web Content
    http://www.w3.org/2006/01/mbp-pressrelease

    The alpha testing of the W3C alpha module is not the bomb, it IS A bomb...as in dud.

    Need more convincing? Try any number of these sites on any number of devices...MOBILE DEVICES. Many will auto detect that you are using a PC and will give you the PC version.

    Banking
    BofA.mobi (Bank of America)
    Deutsche-Bank.mobi
    Wachovia.mobi
    Barclays.mobi

    Insurance
    Ing.mobi
    StateFarm.mobi
    AXA.mobi

    Hotels
    Marriott.mobi

    Car Manufacturers
    Ferrari.mobi
    BMW.mobi
    Rolls-Royce.mobi
    FordCA.mobi (Ford Canada)

    Transportation
    Amtrak.mobi
    AAA.mobi (American Automobile Association)

    Sports
    ESPN.mobi
    NBA.mobi
    WNBA.mobi

    Magazines
    Time.mobi (Time Magazine)
    BusinessWeek.mobi
    CNNMoney.mobi

    Alcohol
    Smirnoff.mobi

    Internet
    MSN.mobi
    GoDaddy.mobi / TDNAM.mobi

    Technology
    Cisco.mobi

    News
    FoxNews.mobi
    AlJazeera.mobi

    Newspapers
    TheSun.mobi

    Guides
    Zagat.mobi

    Mobile Operators
    T-Mobile.mobi
    Three.mobi
    Vodafone.mobi
    TIM.mobi
    Orange.mobi

    Mobile Manufacturers
    Nokia.mobi
    SonyEricsson.mobi

    Telecommunications
    Ericsson.mobi
    3Skype.mobi

    Weather
    Weather.mobi (The Weather Channel)

    Cities
    Helsinki.mobi

    Airlines
    SAS.mobi

    Clothing
    Polo.mobi
    Quikstore.mobi (Quiksilver)
    BenettonPress.mobi (United Colors of Benetton)

    Airports
    Schiphol.mobi (Amsterdam)

    Television
    TBS.mobi

    Rate this comment: 12345

    .pH
    11/16/2007
    Posts:4
    • Did you even read the article?
      Hello. Going by your .mobi logic/propaganda, the simple solution to this problem is to produce a .mobi version of every website. Is this not part of the problem in the first place? Quoting timbl, "what's best for the user is one URL that works everywhere". Enough said.

      p.s. your subject line is like sooo 1999.. hello?
      Rate this comment: 12345

      jreno
      11/16/2007
      Posts:1
      • Re: Did you even read the article?
        jreno,

        Did you even read the article? Or did you just read my response?

        Or is this an anti-mobi rebuttal on your part?

        That subtitle..."The W3C hopes that its new tool will help developers build websites that will work well on any device, be it a phone or a video-game console."

        Quite misleading, is it not?

        Only twice is the mention of a video game console mentioned. Once in the subtitle and once in the body copy.

        So why was the gist of the article more slanted to the connectivity of the mobile device? One can guess that perhaps mobile connectivity may be the real issue here.

        W3C is taking something that already exists and making it what...there's?

        So please don't tell me about the .mobi propaganda machine. Contact these folks that I listed and tell them what a mistake they made.

        And for something sssssoooooo 1990's, it got a rise out of you, it appears.

        Disco rocks!
        Rate this comment: 12345

        .pH
        11/21/2007
        Posts:4
      • Re: Did you even read the article?
        "what's best for the user is one URL that works everywhere". Enough said.

        Oh, almost forgot...not enough said.

        Please select from this list of URL's one and ONE ONLY URL that will work everywhere and we'll get rid of the rest, per Timbl's and jreno's request (by the way, a URL is a web address...it has nothing to do with the more than 260 plus ccTLD's and TLD's. But I am sure you knew that already). So I will go on the assumption that both of you knew what you meant and not what you said.

        Pick one please:

        a (unknown)
        bitnet (unknown)
        ac United Kingdom academic institutions
        ad Andorra
        ae United Arab Emirates
        af Afghanistan
        ag Antigua and Barbuda
        ai Anguilla
        al Albania
        am Armenia
        an Netherlands Antilles
        fi Finland
        fj Fiji
        fk Falkland Islands (Malvinas)
        fm Micronesia
        fo Faroe Islands
        fr France
        fx France (Metropolitan)
        ga Gabon
        gb Great Britain (UK)
        gd Grenada
        ge Georgia
        gf French Guiana
        gh Ghana
        gi Gibraltar
        gl Greenland
        gm Gambia
        gn Guinea
        gov US Government
        gp Guadaloupe
        gq Equatorial Guinea
        gr Greece
        gs South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands
        gt Guatemala
        gu Guam
        gw Guinea-Bissau
        gy Guyana
        hk Hong Kong
        hm Heard and McDonald Islands
        hn Honduras
        hr Croatia (Hrvatska)
        ht Haiti
        hu Hungary
        id Indonesia
        ie Ireland
        il Israel
        in India
        io British Indian Ocean Territory
        iq Iraq
        ir Iran
        is Iceland
        it Italy
        jm Jamaica
        jo Jordan
        jp Japan
        ke Kenya
        kg Kyrgyzstan
        kh Cambodia
        ki Kiribati
        km Comoros
        kn Saint Kitts and Nevis
        kp Korea (North)
        kr Korea (South)
        ku Kuwait
        ky Cayman Islands
        kz Kazakhstan
        la Laos
        lb Lebanon
        lc Saint Lucia
        li Liechtenstein
        lk Sri Lanka
        lr Liberia
        ls Lesotho
        lt Lithuania
        lu Luxembourg
        lv Latvia
        ly Libya
        ma Morocco
        mc Monaco
        md Moldova
        mg Madagascar
        mh Marshall Islands
        mil US Military
        mk Macedonia
        ml Mali
        mm Mynamar
        mn Mongolia
        mo Macau
        mp Northern Mariana Islands
        mq Martinique
        mr Mauritania
        ms Montserrat
        mt Malta
        mu Mauritius
        mv Maldives
        mw Malawi
        mx Mexico
        my Malaysia
        mz Mozambique
        na Namibia
        nc New Caledonia
        ne Niger
        net US network
        nf Norfolk Island
        ng Nigeria
        ni Nicaragua
        nl Netherlands
        no Norway
        np Nepal
        nr Nauru
        nt Neutral Zone
        nu Niue
        nz New Zealand (Aotearoa)
        om Oman
        org US Non-Profit Organization
        pa Panama
        pe Peru
        pf French Polynesia
        pg Papua New Guinea
        ph Philippines
        pk Pakistan
        pl> Poland
        pm Saint Pierre and Miquelon
        pn Pitcairn
        pr Puerto Rico
        pt Portugal
        pw Palau
        py Paraguay
        qa Qatar
        re Reunion
        ro Romania
        ru Russian Federation
        rw Rwanda
        sa Saudi Arabia
        sb Solomon Islands
        sc Seychelles
        sd Sudan
        se Sweden
        sg Singapore
        sh Saint Helena
        si Slovenia
        sj Svalbard and Jan Mayen Islands
        sk Slovak Republic
        sl Sierra Leone
        sm San Marino
        sn Senegal
        so Somalia
        sr Suriname
        st Sao Tome and Principe
        su USSR (former)
        sv El Salvador
        sy Syria
        sz Swaziland
        tc Turks and Caicos Islands
        td Chad
        tf French Southern Territories
        tg Togo
        th Thailand
        tj Tajikistan
        tk Tokelau
        tm Turkmenistan
        tn Tunisia
        to Tonga
        tp East Timor
        tr Turkey
        tt Trinidad and Tobago
        tv Tuvalu
        tw Taiwan
        tz Tanzania
        ua Ukraine
        ug Uganda
        uk United Kingdom
        um US Minor Outlying Islands
        us United States
        uy Uruguay
        uz Uzbekistan
        va Vatican City State
        vc Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
        ve Venezuela
        vg Virgin Islands (British)
        vi Virgin Islands (US)
        vn Viet Nam
        vu Vanuatu
        wf Wallis and Futuna Islands
        ws Samoa
        ye Yemen
        yt Mayotte
        yu Yugoslavia
        za South Africa
        zm Zambia
        zr Zaire
        zw Zimbabwe

        and do not forget .com, .net, .org, .info, .mobi, .tv, .aero, .pro, .edu, .name, etc.
        ao Angola
        aq Antarctica
        ar Argentina
        as American Samoa
        at Austria
        au Australia
        aw Aruba
        az Azerbaijan
        ba Bosnia and Herzegovina
        bb Barbados
        bd Bangladesh
        be Belgium
        bf Burkina Faso
        bg Bulgaria
        bh Bahrain
        bi Burundi
        bj Benin
        bm Bermuda
        bn Brunei Darussalam
        bo Bolivia
        br Brazil
        bs Bahamas
        bt Bhutan
        bv Bouvet Island
        bw Botswana
        by Belarus
        bz Belize
        ca Canada
        cc Cocos (Keeling) Islands
        cf Central African Republic
        cg Congo
        ch Switzerland
        ci Cote d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast)
        ck Cook Islands
        cl Chile
        cm Cameroon
        cn China
        co Colombia
        com US Commercial
        cr Costa Rica
        cs Czechoslovakia (former)
        cu Cuba
        cv Cape Verde
        cx Christmas Island
        cy Cyprus
        cz Czech Republic
        de Germany
        dj Djibouti
        dk Denmark
        dm Dominica
        do Dominican Republic
        dz Algeria
        ec Ecuador
        edu US Educational
        ee Estonia
        eg Egypt
        eh Western Sahara
        er Eritrea
        es Spain
        et Ethiopia
        Rate this comment: 12345

        .pH
        11/21/2007
        Posts:4
        • Re: Did you even read the article?
          I just read the article, then all your responses.  I'm not sure any of you really understood what was said.

          The point is that websites should display differently to suit devices, but still using the same URL.  One way to accomplish this is with style sheets.

          For example, if I go to cnn.com on my Windows Mobile phone, I don't get the large images and have to pan across the screen to see all the content.  But on a desktop, I get the rich interface.  Both will have the same menu *items* and content.  All with the same URL.

          .mobi is not the solution.  An alternate URL is not the solution.  This is not the one web!
          Rate this comment: 12345

          anbageorge
          11/26/2007
          Posts:1
          • Re: Did you even read the article?
            by anbageorge  11/26/2007 2:48 PM

            I just read the article, then all your responses.  I'm not sure any of you really understood what was said.

            The point is that websites should display differently to suit devices, but still using the same URL.  One way to accomplish this is with style sheets.

            For example, if I go to cnn.com on my Windows Mobile phone, I don't get the large images and have to pan across the screen to see all the content.  But on a desktop, I get the rich interface.  Both will have the same menu *items* and content.  All with the same URL.

            .mobi is not the solution.  An alternate URL is not the solution.  This is not the one web!
            -------------------------------------------

            Then one web is not the solution.

            What you have just described is an auto detection to fit the size site. The CNN mobile site does not offer  all the capabilities of the PC site, just as my bank and email is autodetected to fit the mobile size screen. But, I have to select the HTML format to get to log in and use my password. Lots of time scrolling, hunting, and typing. Very time consuming. Just like the CNN site. It will not show images, it will not provide you options to email, comment etc UNLESS you select the HTML option.

            So no...the .com site is not the same.

            Therefore, one web will not be the solution for quite some time. There will need to be two simultaneous solutions and webs coexisting until one overtakes the other and renders it obsolete.

            With mobile devices outselling PC's and Laptops at a rate of four to one and with half the world's population as mobile phone subscribers, I wonder who will win out in the long run?

            I think I will go with the 3.3 billion who are phone subscribers and play the 4:1 odds in favor of the mobile internet being the future.

            Future? It is here
            Rate this comment: 12345

            .pH
            01/02/2008
            Posts:4
  • webbed feet
    Is it getting hot in here or was this last post just another side effect of global warming? I mean its perfectly legal to have a little fun at someone elses expense every now and then, but I see a lot of content lately that you would expect coming from a dinosaur. And we all know from our science textbooks that they went extinct a long long time ago. Or did they?
    Rate this comment: 12345

    phoenix
    11/16/2007
    Posts:172
    Avg Rating:
    3/5
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