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Should mobile websites be free with your regular website?

Absolutely. It is value-added that will be short-lived. The next few generations of mobile phones will be capable of full web browsing (iPhone, Storm, etc) and will eventually lead to all phones not needing a mobile site.
 
Absolutely. It is value-added that will be short-lived. The next few generations of mobile phones will be capable of full web browsing (iPhone, Storm, etc) and will eventually lead to all phones not needing a mobile site.

I wouldn't go that far!

Web designers will always want to optimize their content for different screen sizes to make the sites easier to use in multiple formats. A mobile version needs to be optimized for people's big fingers poking screens versus a mouse. While my Palm Pre can zoom in and out of normal websites, it is still much easier to use Facebook's mobile site than zoom in and out of the normal Facebook page.
 
I wouldn't go that far!


I would!

FireFox is getting ready to launch a mobile browser (with tabs) and although the first version is not slated to do this, rumor on the street is they plan to make the browser scale any website in future versions. They're struggling with animated material, but a standard will eventually develop in that area.

So, if mobile phone providers/manufacturers don't figure out a way to get it done, outside software coders will.

Today, yes, the mobile site is necessary. And because it won't be necessary forever, you should make it a value-added part of your platform. Sorry if my view doesn't fit your wallet - I'm saying the same thing to Dealer.com.
 
I would!

FireFox is getting ready to launch a mobile browser (with tabs) and although the first version is not slated to do this, rumor on the street is they plan to make the browser scale any website in future versions. They're struggling with animated material, but a standard will eventually develop in that area.

So, if mobile phone providers/manufacturers don't figure out a way to get it done, outside software coders will.

Today, yes, the mobile site is necessary. And because it won't be necessary forever, you should make it a value-added part of your platform. Sorry if my view doesn't fit your wallet - I'm saying the same thing to Dealer.com.

The other problem with mobile browsers is the lack of consistent standards and browser support. A website renders completely different on every device. It's like the old IE vs Netscape days all over again. I think it will be a few years before it all gets standardized and supports thinks like Flash, Silverlight, Java and etc. They are working on it, but even after it works it will be years before people replace all their old phones to new ones that support it and website providers can expect it to work.
 
I saw a REALLY ROUGH (but awesome) demo a few weeks ago of a phone that had a mobile projector with a laser light enabled keyboard. Of course the thing was about as big as an old brick phone from the 80's. But, a really cool concept.

The problems I saw is you had to be on a 90 angle wall and/or object (they were using the back of a pad of paper) to be able to use it, the screen projection could really only go a max of 9" diagonal, and of course battery life.

My point being, I still think tech development is moving fast. The days of a Star Trek size palm personal computer that can do allot more than our current home computers, and is "usable", is just a couple years away.

But, to answer Matts questions - YES, mobile websites should be included. More so for the points you mentioned. It is still in development for standards and not everyone can use.
 
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