July 29, 2008
Mobile Marketer’s Intro to the iPhone
Mark Emery, Senior Director of Agency Relations, Air2Web
Spend much time in the halls of mobile companies these days and you’ll be privy to prolific chatter about the second generation of Apple’s precedent-setting iPhone, scheduled for release on July 11th. Even before the original iPhone was released, back when there were only whispers, smoke and mirrors about Apple’s plans, industry insiders speculated feverishly about when the juggernaut would awaken from its mobile slumber.
By almost all accounts, Apple’s first pass in the mobile space was an unmitigated success. The device was stunningly beautiful, the touchscreen worked surprisingly well, the accelerometer )the doohickey that changes the screen based on the orientation of the device) was an instant benchmark, and the browser served up rich HTML. Undergirding its incredible functionality was Apple’s utter mastery of UI; the device was simpler to use than a preponderance of lesser devices.
The original iPhone was not without some pretty glaring deficiencies, however. Because Apple wanted to ensure sufficient battery life, the first iPhone shipped with only a 2G chip, which meant the iPhone’s groundbreaking Safari browser effectively had a flat tire in AT&T’s plodding EDGE network. With no native support for Microsoft Exchange, the equally impressive email client proved no match for a BES-connected Blackberry. Also, the device’s embedded battery meant that iPhone users who needed new batteries had to ship the device back to Apple; I don’t know many people who can afford to live without their phones for that kind of timeframe, and I don’t know ANY business people who can.
Third-party application developers weren’t exactly thrilled to discover that Apple offered no accompanying SDK or toolkit to develop apps for the iPhone. Nifty little utilities created for other devices were effectively blocked for the iPhone. In my opinion, the move was fairly reasonable – too much could go wrong with the first-gen device to risk it, the stock functionality of the device was already staggeringly impressive, and it’s reasonable for Apple to want first dibs on aftermarket apps.
Last Fall Apple availed an SDK to hungry developers. For $99 you could create applications for the iPhone. Even that was not without its drawbacks, however, including the fact that the SDK was limited to browser-based applications, which in turn meant that apps could not run concurrently )bad, if you, say, don’t want your email client to crash just because the phone rang). This also affected the creation of apps that could use native device applications )iTunes, calendar, contacts, phone, SMS, etc.) - the cool stuff was Apple only.
The new device boasts MobileMe, Apple’s method for access to Microsoft Exhange’s push email service, which suddenly makes the device a formidable adversary for class-leading RIM. Power innovation has enabled Apple to ship the device with a 3G chip, meaning consumers within range of AT&T’s powerful HSDPA network would have the bandwidth needed to make the browser hum. It looks like an already great device will become even better.
Add a new $199 price point and it’s easy to understand the hysteria surrounding the device.
That hysteria has generated some excellent questions, which deserve attention in a broader format than I have here. That said, here are a few that seem to come up more often than others, and my shot at answers:
1) Does the rich HTML browser mean the end of WAP?
A bunch of people at the MMA show suggested that WAP was dead, and using the term at all is indicative of an antiquated mindset. On one hand, I can see how they’d arrive at that position; HTML is a Web standard, and if a mobile device suddenly supports Web markup languages, your site will already be optimized for mobile…
Wrong
…iPhone users, please browse to apple.com on your iPhone. That text sure is small, eh? Now consider the fact that as of Q1 2008, there were 2.3 million units in the U.S. market. Sounds impressive, until you realize that there are over 250 million U.S. mobile users. For those of you playing the home game, that’s about 1% penetration.
WAP may not be pretty, but it is ubiquitous.
2) Does the iPhone mean I don’t have to create sites specifically for mobile devices?
Sure, if you don’t care about two things:
By almost all accounts, Apple’s first pass in the mobile space was an unmitigated success. The device was stunningly beautiful, the touchscreen worked surprisingly well, the accelerometer )the doohickey that changes the screen based on the orientation of the device) was an instant benchmark, and the browser served up rich HTML. Undergirding its incredible functionality was Apple’s utter mastery of UI; the device was simpler to use than a preponderance of lesser devices.
The original iPhone was not without some pretty glaring deficiencies, however. Because Apple wanted to ensure sufficient battery life, the first iPhone shipped with only a 2G chip, which meant the iPhone’s groundbreaking Safari browser effectively had a flat tire in AT&T’s plodding EDGE network. With no native support for Microsoft Exchange, the equally impressive email client proved no match for a BES-connected Blackberry. Also, the device’s embedded battery meant that iPhone users who needed new batteries had to ship the device back to Apple; I don’t know many people who can afford to live without their phones for that kind of timeframe, and I don’t know ANY business people who can.
Third-party application developers weren’t exactly thrilled to discover that Apple offered no accompanying SDK or toolkit to develop apps for the iPhone. Nifty little utilities created for other devices were effectively blocked for the iPhone. In my opinion, the move was fairly reasonable – too much could go wrong with the first-gen device to risk it, the stock functionality of the device was already staggeringly impressive, and it’s reasonable for Apple to want first dibs on aftermarket apps.
Last Fall Apple availed an SDK to hungry developers. For $99 you could create applications for the iPhone. Even that was not without its drawbacks, however, including the fact that the SDK was limited to browser-based applications, which in turn meant that apps could not run concurrently )bad, if you, say, don’t want your email client to crash just because the phone rang). This also affected the creation of apps that could use native device applications )iTunes, calendar, contacts, phone, SMS, etc.) - the cool stuff was Apple only.
The new device boasts MobileMe, Apple’s method for access to Microsoft Exhange’s push email service, which suddenly makes the device a formidable adversary for class-leading RIM. Power innovation has enabled Apple to ship the device with a 3G chip, meaning consumers within range of AT&T’s powerful HSDPA network would have the bandwidth needed to make the browser hum. It looks like an already great device will become even better.
Add a new $199 price point and it’s easy to understand the hysteria surrounding the device.
That hysteria has generated some excellent questions, which deserve attention in a broader format than I have here. That said, here are a few that seem to come up more often than others, and my shot at answers:
1) Does the rich HTML browser mean the end of WAP?
A bunch of people at the MMA show suggested that WAP was dead, and using the term at all is indicative of an antiquated mindset. On one hand, I can see how they’d arrive at that position; HTML is a Web standard, and if a mobile device suddenly supports Web markup languages, your site will already be optimized for mobile…
Wrong
…iPhone users, please browse to apple.com on your iPhone. That text sure is small, eh? Now consider the fact that as of Q1 2008, there were 2.3 million units in the U.S. market. Sounds impressive, until you realize that there are over 250 million U.S. mobile users. For those of you playing the home game, that’s about 1% penetration.
WAP may not be pretty, but it is ubiquitous.
2) Does the iPhone mean I don’t have to create sites specifically for mobile devices?
Sure, if you don’t care about two things:
- The fact that the number of rich HTML devices out there is still small )but definitely growing).
- The notion that people want different experiences on mobile devices than they do on the traditional Web.
I believe )and I am buoyed by many of my clients) that most people do want something specifically designed for mobile. If you go to Starbucks.com on a computer, there is a broad range of things you can do to interact with the coffee giant - from perusing the menu to reviewing investor information. If you care enough to browse to Starbucks.com on your mobile device, chances are you’re looking for a store. I think remembering that paradigm is critical when you talk about building a mobile web presence.
