The future internet is coming and it’s mobile

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No one likes being tied down to their computers. Sure, some people will tolerate it, but only if there is no other option. For this reason, use of mobile devices is exploding. With the emergence of WiFi, more people than ever are accessing the internet while leading active lives. In the next few years, this promises to become even more of a trend as PDAs and SmartPhone increase in popularity, and in features.

This mobile mindset that is quickly developing forces all of us to look at our websites, and the future of the web differently. The current format of bloated web pages, complex navigation, and unfocused content will have to give way to lean and mean pages designed to load fast on small screens. Fortunately the screens on these devices are improving in quality every day, so video is a great option for your content.

The convergence of data and video is complete. RSS helps us organize information from remote data sources in a way that couldn’t be done with email, and it eliminates the problem of spam as well.

How can webmasters begin to think for this new paradigm? You can think big by first thinking small. The market for handheld viewable content is getting bigger ever day. Websites that operate particularily well on small screens are likely to be a hit for the many users who will be looking for this type of website.

What steps do you need to take to get ready for this coming wave? Some simple steps can assure success.

• Basically you need to check for the user-agent and present a PDA friendly version to the remote user
• Think in terms of usefulness for the small screen user so you can add value
• Look for ways to monetize your website for mobile users that don’t exist now
• Make RSS feeds available for the updated sections of your website so that remote users can preview easily

In future posts, we’ll cover some of these aspects in more detail, but for now, it’s important to set a goal to reach this vast audience.

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