Good mobile browsers are not enough

I read Matthew Maier's latest newsletter (it's now via CNNMoney and called 'Third Screen') titled 'Is that a PC in your pocket?' Of course, it was about shoving PC apps into phones. It was a bit starry-eyed in how phones are becoming more like PCs. Ok, so he does briefly mention that it helps to think of how folks use the mobile to develop good apps. But, he does focus too much on the mobile computing experience.

The article promoted me to finally take a look at OperaMini (point your phone at mini.opera.com). It's decent, but I was able to quickly test it and prove that improving mobile browsers is not going to solve all our problems.

Here's a test:
1) Use your favorite mobile browser to view Bloglines at www.bloglines.com
2) Now use Bloglines via bloglines.com/mobile

Of course, and I'm not stating anything new, the mobile version of Bloglines has the better mobile experience.

What I mean to show is that, yes, it's great to have more fully featured phone browsers. It fills a gap in access. But, let's call a spade a spade - the browsing experience will still not be as effective as any site that has a mobile device in mind.

And that's not only because of the usual layout and content issues. To me the real thing is that PC-centric sites are designed for the PC, broadband, two-handed, mouse-and-click, two-eyes, sitting-on-my-butt, I-have-time kind of experience. Mobile sites or PC sites that keep mobile in mind, remember the one-handed, strawband, one-eye (if any), on-the-go kind of needs. In short, they need to cater to the mobile lifestyle and not just the mobile layout.

I think the mobile computing mentality is fooling everyone into thinking that phones are turning into PCs. Eh, that's not right. Yes, phones are turning into powerful computing platforms that can have rich applications - but those applications must be relevant to the way folks use their mobile.

And that's what most folks miss.