From the monthly archives:

September 2010

When will the mobile web really take off?

by Tim on September 30, 2010

I’m a huge fan of the mobile web. Enormous. When I look at mobile today, I see the Web in 1997-1998, poised for massive growth. I think tools like the iPad and sophisticated phones are going to be huge drivers of that growth. Amazon already gets healthy results from mobile.

But, when will you see the benefit? When will the mobile web be a major contributor to your business? And by major, I mean something that produces 10% or more of your revenues and profits.

The quick answer is, I don’t know. And it’s easy to get discouraged when CNN reports:

“…while cell phone penetration is high across all U.S. demographics (82 percent of consumers own a cell phone, and 73 percent report that cell phones are their “most used device”), only 17 percent of Americans own a smartphone… Also,Forrester reports that less than one-fourth of U.S. mobile phone owners have an unlimited data plan.” [Emphasis mine]

Data plans are a bit of sticking point, actually. My friend Mike Moran has long suggested data plan cost impacts web use, especially on mobile. I more or less agree.

But, there are, to use the term, “green shoots.” Along with the Kenneth Cole data I mentioned last week, YUDU Media says this about the iPad:

“Morgan Stanley projects sales of 16 million units in the first year alone. With over 3.3 million iPads sold in less than 3 months, that’s an argument hard to refute.”

There’s the Amazon number I referenced above. eBay did more than $600 million in mobile sales in 2009, about 7% of its total revenue. And, as mentioned in both the CNN article above and my post from last week, smartphone adoption is higher among younger demographics – and growing.

RIght now, we’re in a “pregnant moment,” one just before a tipping point. I think we’re already in “The Year of Mobile” – if it wasn’t last year. And I wouldn’t put too much faith in the “few people have smartphones” argument, either. For instance, MetroPCS is rolling out mobile internet and video on its LTE (i.e., next-generation mobile internet) network for $60 (!) a month, using a fairly dumb device. So, who needs smartphones, anyway?

Is this “The Year of Mobile?” Are you getting mobile worth mentioning? Tell us about it in the comments. We’d love to hear.

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Technorati Tags:
E-commerce, e-commerce, mike moran, mobile

Tagged as: Mobile, mobile internet, mobile marketing, mobile web

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WordPress blogging on the iPad? Um… I don’t think so.

by Tim on September 29, 2010

in Blogging

Is the iPad right for blogging? I’ve been talking about the iPad off and on for the last week, first looking at what it means for your business, then responding to a reader who suggests that I may have missed the boat on this one. Yesterday, I got an email from another reader who asks,

“I travel a lot for my job, but want to update my blog when I’m on the road. Does the iPad work for an active blogger?”

This is a tough one. I’m a big fan of the iPad, but I haven’t been impressed by its support for blogging, which is a shame, because with built-in WiFi and 3G, it’s a great format for posting on the go. Unfortunately, the iPad WordPress app is, I’m afraid, laughably bad, with no HTML support to speak of, limited image capabilities and poor use of the screen real estate. Others disagree, though acknowledge “We’d like to see a WYSIWYG editor…” I’d settle for a button to insert a link (!).

Candidly, the WordPress app for Android installed on my Droid X is a better blogging tool despite the far smaller screen and I haven’t found an iPad blogging app I like. What I have found useful is Evernote, a cross-platform note-taking tool that I’ve used for years for basic note-taking. Evernote seems to make better use of the screen and, due to its synching capabilities with the desktop, allows me easy copy and paste posts into my regular blog editor when I get back to a full-size computer. It, too, lacks an HTML shortcuts and image capabilities, but it uses the screen so much more efficiently that I at least can get my writing done. I’ve also found Pages for the iPad useful, but still prefer the way Evernote allows me to access my text when I get back to my main computer.

The other place I don’t like the iPad has more to do with my style of writing. I tend to have a number of links per post, typically copied from multiple Firefox, Chrome or Safari tabs and captured within a clipboard manager like Jumpcut. While Safari on the iPad allows for up to 9 different pages at once, its reloading time and lack of multitasking when switching between the browser and whatever editor I’m writing in drives me nuts in practice.

I realize none of this comes off as a glowing recommendation for the iPad as a blogging tool. On the other hand, Mashable seemed to like it when they first tried it. Maybe it’s just me. What do you think? Have you tried blogging from the iPad or found an app that works really well? Please post a comment and let me and your fellow thinks readers know.

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Technorati Tags:
android, blogging, blogs, business blogging, ipad, wordpress.com, wordpress.org, WordPress

Tagged as: blog, blog writing, Blogging, blogs

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Is the iPad a game-changer? A reader dissents.

by Tim on September 28, 2010

in E-commerce,Mobile

A couple days ago, I looked at what the iPad means for your business. In response, a reader sent me this:

“Interesting post! My only dissent is that it seems to imply that the iPad (and copy-cat clones) are (or will be) a driving market force. They may well be. I wonder though, if the initial effect may not be primarily due to the fact that the earliest adopters of these “magical devices” are probably (almost certainly) the most affluent, tech-minded members of the marketplace? This could largely account for the fact that “Consumers buy more when using it”.

[In other words] it’s not so much that iPad users spend more as it is that big spenders use iPads!” [Emphasis mine]

To which I say: Absolutely! iPad users (and soon-to-be Blackberry PlayBook users and all the rest) are, at the moment, likely richer than the general population. Causality could easily be the other way ’round from what I suggested in my post.

Of course, that begs this question: What’s wrong with that? When it comes to finding customers, I like to follow Willie Sutton’s famous advice when asked why he robbed banks, “That’s where the money is.”

Now, there are some brands who specifically target less affluent demographics. And for them, the iPad may be less interesting – in the short run. For the rest though, I stand by my original analysis. In the long run, I still believe tablets like the iPad will move the market.

There’s a long tradition of tech adoption among the affluent. In my career alone, the same has held true for loads of technologies, including broadband access, mobile phones/PDA’s, and internet access overall. Once upon a time, the average internet user was younger, richer, better educated and, um, male-r than the general populace. And the same seems true for the iPad, too. That’s OK. Over time, it’s likely that, just like the technologies that preceded it, iPad use will migrate to the broader population (and, please remember, I’m using iPads as a proxy for all the new mobile tablet tech toys about to hit the market).

Still think I’m missing the boat on this one? Are you excited about mobile and tablets for your business? Let me know in the comments.

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Technorati Tags:
e-commerce, ecommerce, mobile, ipad