Let's talk quickly on timely topics to elevate your web strategy. Fellow developers will be addressed as well, but in small doses, and wherever possible, in common-speak.
HTML5 makes sense here of course. You still need to consider browser compatibility however, which too many people skip right over.
Give me a ring today and we can discuss how to make your next iPad/Iphone/Android project full interoperable over the widest array of devices and marketable to audiences both old and new.
Back in 2009, I wrote an article discussing the future of the mobile web which was simply one of many similar screeds that I had penned on the Fourth Speaker. Ok, enough with the self- congratulating on the subject. I know you will soon be asking us to optimize your site for mobile, or you will be irrelevant.
What I wanted to point out in this post is a recent TechCrunch article covering Facebook’s Mobile ambitions. The read is a good one indeed, as it simultaneiously uncovers the dog-eat-dog underbelly of the big tech players and the absolute importance of the mobile web.
Mobile will become the big survival test for the big names of today, as well as the marker for whether your business will thrive or suffer in obscurity. Take this seriously. You should not think todays battles between the big players as isolated from the battles you will face to make your business the best that it can be.
Here is the comment from a fellow developer on the story that triggered this post:
Kevin Cawley ยท Boulder, Colorado
dude, you have lost your mind creating drama where there is none. mobile web apps will be the future - it is inevitable; everyone knows this, facebook knows this, and that is why they are pushing this project to accelerate destiny.
mobile web technology will catch up (just like it did on the desktop). as a developer I will massively benefit because I can build one app that runs anywhere. and my consumers will benefit because they can have a choice in mobile device and have a consistent and good experience. how can this not be clear to everyone?
the big losers will be the app stores (mainly apple) - google I suspect doesn’t care as they will make buckets of $ on mobile search.
Over the last 6 months, I have created a JanRain social login tool for two of my biggest clients, even extending the tool to the mobile version of Simple Foodie. The results were good, and I have been recommending it since to any client that has a registration requirement.
Over the last few weeks however, the question has expanded beyond the value of expediting registration and login, to the more direct value of having key social “hooks” on your website. The ‘like’ button is fine, the share buttons are great too, but in terms of seeking to make your site a trusted destination, having a social login anchor point is the best. People have a strong anchor in Facebook now. It’s use is no longer a phenomena, but standard practice. The novelty has worn off, and in its place there is a growing desire for its practicality in what I call its ‘anchor window’ value. An anchor window is a window or tab you keep open on your browser while others come and go. Facebook is tops here. So while your potential users are opening closing various windows as they research new companies to do business with, which ones are they going to remember and come back to? The ones most closely associated with their anchor window of course.
So even if you don’t have an integrated database or application centered website, wouldn’t it be valuable to lay your social ‘hooks’ into your site visitors? We can put JanRain right into your contact forms. To your customers, it is an easy way to send more contact info with less effort. For you, it opens the door for more detailed, in-depth interaction. For longevity, if we build the right tools in for future visits, it creates shortcuts for your clients to streamline repeat business with you.
