WHY AREN’T MOBILE WEB DEVELOPERS DOING THEIR JOB?
I came across a very interesting website quirksmode.org in the Mobile section that explain beatifully in many parts what I believe that is the problem with mobile web design nowadays. I will be copying what I think is the most important points here. Some I might discuss but you will understand the probem when you read it.
MOBILE WEB DEVELOPERS DOING THEIR JOB?
The unique selling point of the web is that it runs on all devices; and not just on one platform. But it seems mobile web developers aren’t much interested in reaching out beyond one or two specific platforms.
Developers should reach out to as many paltforms as humanly possible instead of confining themselves to the best ones.
WHY ARE WEB DEVELOPERS INTERESTED IN MOBILE SO RELUCTANT TO VENTURE OUT BEYOUND THEIR iPHONE CONFORT ZONE?
Mobile web projects for large companies are based on requirements written last year, during the height of the iPhone obsession. In addition, the iPhone’s share of mobile web traffic remains out of proportion to its sales figures.
That certainly influences web developers. If clients ask only for the iPhone, and their logfiles bear out this request, then doing an iPhone-only site makes sense.
BEST VIEWED inIE iPhone
Mobile is becoming hip in web development land. Web developers who want to impress other web developers increasingly turn to mobile.
Unfortunately “mobile” means the iPhone here, because it’s the only device web developers have access to, and because it supports the largest swathe of nifty tricks. Besides, it’s the only platform that ensures that other web developers will be able to appreciate the results.
Unfortunately iPhone-centeredness reinforces the idea that mobile web development is only about the iPhone.
LACK OF DEVICES
Still, it’s not unnatural of web developers to start at the top of the market, especially if the top device is all they own.
The average web developer, however, has to make a serious investment to get that far. He’ll have an iPhone or Android for personal use, but will need at least two or three more devices if he wants to get into the mobile web seriously. Not all web developers are willing to make this investment; especially not when they have no mobile clients yet, or those clients only ask for the iPhone.
So I can understand why web developers postpone the heavy investments that ar necessary to truly switch over to mobile.
What web developers must understand is that IE doesn’t matter on mobile! This is the biggest single advantage of crossing over to the mobile web, and web developers’ eyes start to glow whenever I make this point. (They’ll have to find another browser to bitch about, though.)
WHY DO WEB DEVELOPERS BITCH ABOUT IE?
Because they insist on getting everything to work perfectly!
If they had the courage to deny IE users a few advanced features, the level of bitching would drop significantly.
Fortunately, this attitude is going to die pretty soon. On mobile it’s just plain impossible to give every single browser the same experience.
On mobile we must use progressive enhancement. We must deny users of certain browser certain advanced features, either because they’re not supported or they are so very hard to implement that it just doesn’t make sense to waste time on them.
I complete agree with (On mobile it’s just plain impossible to give every single browser the same experience.) and have tried to show it on my LinkedIn group and in this blog as well. I hope that now more people are talking about it, people might take me more seriously.
MOBILE WEB DEVELOPERS DOING THEIR JOB?
The unique selling point of the web is that it runs on all devices; and not just on one platform. But it seems mobile web developers aren’t much interested in reaching out beyond one or two specific platforms.
Developers should reach out to as many paltforms as humanly possible instead of confining themselves to the best ones.
WHY ARE WEB DEVELOPERS INTERESTED IN MOBILE SO RELUCTANT TO VENTURE OUT BEYOUND THEIR iPHONE CONFORT ZONE?
Mobile web projects for large companies are based on requirements written last year, during the height of the iPhone obsession. In addition, the iPhone’s share of mobile web traffic remains out of proportion to its sales figures.
That certainly influences web developers. If clients ask only for the iPhone, and their logfiles bear out this request, then doing an iPhone-only site makes sense.
BEST VIEWED in
Mobile is becoming hip in web development land. Web developers who want to impress other web developers increasingly turn to mobile.
Unfortunately “mobile” means the iPhone here, because it’s the only device web developers have access to, and because it supports the largest swathe of nifty tricks. Besides, it’s the only platform that ensures that other web developers will be able to appreciate the results.
Unfortunately iPhone-centeredness reinforces the idea that mobile web development is only about the iPhone.
LACK OF DEVICES
Still, it’s not unnatural of web developers to start at the top of the market, especially if the top device is all they own.
The average web developer, however, has to make a serious investment to get that far. He’ll have an iPhone or Android for personal use, but will need at least two or three more devices if he wants to get into the mobile web seriously. Not all web developers are willing to make this investment; especially not when they have no mobile clients yet, or those clients only ask for the iPhone.
So I can understand why web developers postpone the heavy investments that ar necessary to truly switch over to mobile.
What web developers must understand is that IE doesn’t matter on mobile! This is the biggest single advantage of crossing over to the mobile web, and web developers’ eyes start to glow whenever I make this point. (They’ll have to find another browser to bitch about, though.)
Incidentally, web developers are calling the shots on mobile; and not Microsoft.
Microsoft can make IE matter by improving the mobile browser to IE9-like levels, but if it doesn’t it’s out of the mobile browser race.
Because they insist on getting everything to work perfectly!
If they had the courage to deny IE users a few advanced features, the level of bitching would drop significantly.
Fortunately, this attitude is going to die pretty soon. On mobile it’s just plain impossible to give every single browser the same experience.
On mobile we must use progressive enhancement. We must deny users of certain browser certain advanced features, either because they’re not supported or they are so very hard to implement that it just doesn’t make sense to waste time on them.
I complete agree with (On mobile it’s just plain impossible to give every single browser the same experience.) and have tried to show it on my LinkedIn group and in this blog as well. I hope that now more people are talking about it, people might take me more seriously.
If you worked as a web developer, you would realise why it is so bloody difficult to make websites to work very well across not even all, but even majority.
ReplyDeleteIt is not development, but testing and fixing quirks on different devices and sometimes they are very hard to work around.
Hi Vasilij, thanks for taking the time to comment.
DeleteI would like to point that I am a junior software developer and know the challenges on developing for many devices. I have a project right now that must accomplish that goal.
This post in particularly came from http://www.quirksmode.org/blog/archives/2010/09/state_of_mobile.html this site, so it is not really mine. I picked the most interest points and put out here, but I must admit that a very common mistake developers do is to stick with one or two most popular technologies and hope for the best regarding the rest for technological and financial reasons. I am only acknowledging some of the problem the field suffer. Thanks again for the comment and if I can be of assistance I will be glad to.
Maybe because quite a few "mobile web developers" work for companies that limit their platforms to one or two (iPhone and android, for example, or iPad, etc). Why would you develop for every mobile device, when your company only supports one or two? It's like attempting to develop cross platform, cross browser, when you company deploys IE to everyone's desk. There's no sense in it, no need for it, and no funding to support it!
ReplyDelete"If they had the courage to deny IE users a few advanced features, the level of bitching would drop significantly." Spoken like someone who develops for the "Internet" rather than for a "company". You simply can't deny IE users a few advanced features, when IE users are your market!