I don't want to get into this debate other than to say that some of the most
ingenious uses of WAP are not going to be delivering the same old
re-purposed web content to mobile users. The true value will come from
paradigm-shifting applications such as using WAP to contol the lighting, air
conditioning, and security in networked home environments. For more info
check out the XML Journal's "Control Applicances Using WML & Java Servlets"
article:
http://www.sys-con.com/xml/archives/0105/lai/index.html
> ----------
> From: Edward Chowdhury[SMTP:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
> Sent: Monday, October 30, 2000 12:43 PM
> To: Fusebox
> Subject: RE: Wireless
>
> Frankly I think WAP is all hype and no reality. The standard which is
> based
> on HDML and agreed to by all the major phone manufacturers, has major
> usability flaws which I will outline below. In addition, there is very
> little consumer demand for it.
>
> From interactive week, May 29:
> "What do consumers want? IDC asked mobile-phone users how interested they
> were in Net access using their phones. Just 7 percent said they were
> uninterested. Unfortunately, 75 percent said they were very uninterested.
> It's a classic case of top-down push marketing, Parr says, a coincidence
> of
> vendor need; wireless providers trying to scramble up the value chain in
> order to increase per-subscriber revenue, cover high costs and slow churn,
> with technology prowess, because they can. Service providers want
> Internet-style growth without the open platforms and commodity pricing
> that
> fueled it."
>
> In Europe, Deutsch Telecom found that it's users used WAP less than once
> per
> week.
>
> Here is what the Wall Street Journal had to say in June, 2000 about the
> WAP
> experience,"...too often, the experience is one of overloaded servers, a
> few
> unimaginative services and a few lines of text scrolling slowly up a
> screen
> halfthe size of a credit card."
>
> I mean think about it. You have a one inch square screen with 4 lines of
> text each line about 12 characters. All typing has to be done using a cell
> phone numeric pad. Do you know how long it takes to type in one's email
> address let alone a shipping address using a ten digit keypad. Hell, there
> isn't even an @ sign without pressing the 1 key repeatedly and who's gonna
> know to do that. Now ask yourself what ordinary person on the street is
> going to bother going through the pain of searching amazon for a
> particular
> title and then ordering it, typing billing address and credit card
> number...
>
> I think there are a few extremely limited uses for WAP mostly having to do
> with receiving a small message, (which any email capable cell phone can
> do)
> and maybe typing in a yes or no answer. Most people don't care about
> internet on their phone. There also maybe some information junkies that
> need
> sports scores and stock quotes (again something just regular email to your
> [EMAIL PROTECTED] will accomplish). All the applications I've seen
> just aren't compelling unless I'm really bored. You're not going to surf
> the
> web while you're stuck in a traffic jam.
>
> Now let's talk development. Every phone has a different screen size. In
> addition, every individual manufacturer is responsible for implementing
> WAP.
> What this leads to is the IE vs Netscape nightmare but 50 times worse
> because you've got all these different manufacturers all doing their own
> thing and all adding their own maddening inconsistencies over how the
> navigation is done.
>
> Lastly it's really expensive for the individual. You're paying per minute
> for internet access. In addition, because the connections don't stay open
> all the time while you're surfing, the phone has to keep reattaching the
> connections. Since cell phone companies charge in one minute increments
> each
> attempt to connect is an additional minute. So one minute on the internet
> plus 3 connection attempts means you just got charged for 4 minutes. Nice
> little racket they have going don't they.
>
> I think as a consultancy if you can charge clueless companies hopping onto
> the great WAP bandwagon go for it. It's like taking candy from a baby. I
> work for a firm that is not a consulatancy, we have an actual service that
> we sell, playing games by email. We needed a wireless play to get our
> second
> round of financing. We looked long and hard at WAP and concluded that it
> isn't there yet, in spite of incredible pressure from the VCs funding us.
> Palms are. Nice screen, easy text entry, good UI. In spite of this I don't
> expect ordinary consumers to use our service. They just don't want it.
> They'd rather look at people or listen to the radio.
>
> I think its impressive that you got porn refreshing on a cell phone.
> Personally I'd rather buy a playboy.
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Sean Renet
> Sent: Monday, October 30, 2000 12:57 PM
> To: Fusebox
> Subject: Re: Wireless
>
>
> First of all, this doesn't sound very stateless. It may be good for a
> video
> game that requires no internet state, but how would your Palm architecture
> handle multiple simultaneous users?
>
> Secondly saying "stay away from wap" is the worst advice you are ever
> going
> to give anyone. That is like saying don't program for Netscape or don't
> learn Java because it takes too long to code. The fact is, WAP is the
> second gold rush. The train is leaving with or without you. And yes just
> like HTML you have to program for different browsers. The dream of
> standardization is exactly that, a dream. I am also very bullish on Palm,
> however I am not going to paint my self into a corner with only one
> wireless
> solution. Companies with only one solution of anything are going to join
> the pile of dot gones.
>
> Last, exactly what tweaking of your servers did you have to reconfigure?
> I
> have now put up several WAP sites and have yet to reconfigure anything.
> One
> of the WAP sites was a porn site that required simulated full motion
> video.
> You can do just about everything in WAP that you can do in HTML save
> killer
> UI. And once more if you are using coldfusion I am guessing all the work
> is
> being done server side anyway so repurposing data is just a matter of
> syntax.
>
> Becareful about staying away from new technologies. It is way better to
> have experience in all technologies, than to wake up one day and realize
> no
> one likes your betamax. WAP is a no brainer, it is already widely used.
> If
> you or your company have not invested time into developing for WAP,
> perhaps
> you should. My last three clients I took over from other CF development
> corporations because they did not have a wireless solution or they only
> had
> one. Long ago it was easy to convince a client to use one technology over
> another if that is all you knew. Now clients are much more informed. If
> you say our only wireless solution is Palm and that is what we are going
> to
> build for you, you are going to have clients that take your scope document
> elsewhere.
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Edward Chowdhury" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> To: "Fusebox" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Sent: Friday, October 27, 2000 9:56 AM
> Subject: RE: Wireless
>
>
> > Yeah, stay away from WAP. What a bogus thing that is. We're doing
> wireless
> > gaming and have standardised on Palm.net architecture. Basically you
> have
> an
> > HTML browser but you download all the graphics to the palm at the very
> > beginning using a Hotsync. After this all you do is send the palm an
> html
> > page referencing the graphics that are already loaded on the palm. The
> > upshot of this is that you can deliver nice rich looking pages with
> pretty
> > sophisticated functionality just by sending a "web clipping" that
> contains
> > text and links to graphics already on the palm. Our pages are about 2k
> each
> > which really isn't bad. In addition, any static pages like rules,
> privacy
> > can also be downloaded just once and then stored using a hotsync along
> with
> > the graphics.
> >
> > Because you're using HTML you don't have to really tweak your servers or
> > configs like you would with wap, and you can repurpose all your current
> > content.
> >
> > ed
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Rick Lamb
> > Sent: Friday, October 27, 2000 12:24 PM
> > To: Fusebox
> > Subject: Wireless
> >
> >
> > Any of you guys have any recommendations for building cf apps for
> wireless
> > clients (connecting between 14 and 16 kbps)?
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> > Rick
> >
> >
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