The iPad lands in consumer's living rooms this April. We're excited. Very excited. If the iPhone was the introduction to the touch experience and die hard 'app' addiction, the iPad is the encore. But what are the implications to the current state of the web?
It's a fact. The iPhone and iPad are having interesting ramifications on web already. For example I use the Facebook App on my phone around 3 times a day, whereas I only use the Facebook website once a week. Likewise for Twitter and other social applications.
My 3yr old daughter happily navigates my iPhone, drawing pictures, playing games, perusing the app store and taking photos. On one occasion even posting to Twitter!!!. However when she's sitting in front of a desktop monitor with a mouse and keyboard, she's clumsy and un-natural. It feels like an archaic experience. I even caught her trying to touch my monitor, followed by a confused face when it didn't work.
Whether we like it or not, the primary method of 'surfing the web' as we know it, is in a transitional phase.
What does this mean for the traditional web?
The traditional web, to me, is websites that only work well in a standard browser, viewed on a laptop or desktop monitor. It websites that rely on people sitting at their desk, with time to spare. An increasing rarity.
At the end of the day, people will connect and interact with objects they find the most entertaining, convenient and affordable. This means if mobile devices start to dominate the web market, the traditional web experience will need to adapt.
The next step forward is delivering platform interdependent websites where-ever possible. On a simple scale, this can mean detecting mobile devices and serving alternate content. Or, on a larger scale, developing an API for your website so others can implement their own mobile experiences whilst retaining a core repository of information.
Obstacles such as screen resolution, touch interaction and limited bandwidths create new considerations for designers and developers. User interface decisions are now more vital to ensure the experience is quality. Content becomes king yet again.
Slow down there, sonny
While it all sounds gun-ho in the land of hand-held. The technology is effectively still in it's infancy. The App store is a bloated mess, filled with useless applications obviously created for a quick buck. And while some mobile optimised websites are great, most still feel clunky and rushed.
I feel we're in the refinement phase of the mobile web and app experience. Like the early days of the internet we know the market demand is strong. Now it's time to clean up.
To quote a recent O'Reilly post...
If the iPad is just another consumer platform for consuming and not creating content, then it will just be another way to watch TV or listen to music or download information. Convenient, yes, but just another device.
So true. There's no point porting all the current experiences, information and practices to the new medium. The boundaries must be pushed, and tweaked and refined.
And so
With the pending release of the iPad, we're excited to embark on our mobile adventures as we come to grips with the possibilities. Interesting times ahead.
