IP: Another view WAP Backlash

[Dave Farber <farber@cis.upenn.edu>]

>Date: Wed, 26 Jul 2000 09:08:32 -0400
>From: "Alan A. Reiter" <reiter@wirelessinternet.com>
>
>Hi Dave,
>
>I've been to Europe four times this year and have used WAP phones and 
>spoken and
>chaired wireless Internet conferences overseas.  It's not WAP per se 
>that's the
>problem, it's the implementation.  Criticizing WAP is like criticizing 
>HTML when
>you're viewing the Web on a five-inch black-and-white monitor with a 300 bps
>connection and using a telephone keypad rather than a keyboard.  Of course the
>experience is going to be awful!
>
>WAP is just a tool.  It's a way to code pages and send data over the air in an
>efficient manner.  People don't like the idea of having to re-code 
>sites.  Until
>software is smart enough to automatically transform HTML or XML into formats
>appropriate for various wireless devices, WAP is a good 
>alternative.  There's not
>much else out there.  (Compact HTML, used in Japan for i-mode, also requires
>re-coding of data.)
>
>The problems today for WAP are: circuit switched connections are slow -- 
>perhaps
>15 seconds to connect -- and sometimes unreliable; connections are sometimes
>dropped; some WAP sites aren't coded correctly, which results in not being 
>able
>to connect or poor performance; there aren't enough useful, transactional 
>sites;
>WAP phones aren't sufficiently easy to use despite huge amounts of time 
>and money
>from the handset manufacturers.
>
>In addition, WAP is being marketed as wireless Internet -- just as Sprint 
>PCS in
>the U.S. is marketing Phone.com HDML (**not** WAP) as the "Wireless Web."
>Comparing today's WAP and HDML services to the Web is like comparing a 
>meal of,
>say, a black olive in a salad to a dinner buffet!  Beware of misleading 
>customers
>with advertising and marketing!
>
>The situation will will get better.  Programmers will learn to code 
>WAP.  Phones
>will become more ergonomic.  New devices, such as PDAs, will have more 
>wireless
>capabilities.  Transactional services -- banking and shopping, for example --
>will be ported to WAP from SMS.  Packet data -- GPRS (General Packet Radio
>Services) -- will be implemented this year and offer better performance,
>always-on functionality and packet pricing.
>
>Third Generation with faster speeds (but **not** the theoretical maximum 
>speeds
>always printed in the press) will start in Japan in mid-2001 and in Europe in
>2002.  That will not, however, eliminate the need for efficient code for 
>wireless
>networks!  Wireless will cost you -- in time and money -- and efficient 
>code and
>navigation of applications will remain crucial, despite 3G.
>
>WAP certainly isn't perfect, and the experience of using WAP today is 
>poor.  But
>it will get better.  Wireless data is a tough business because so many 
>things --
>wireless networks, devices, applications, distribution, etc. -- to provide the
>right combination of price, performance and user expectations.  At least 
>there IS
>action!
>
>
>Alan
>====
>Alan A. Reiter, President
>Wireless Internet & Mobile Computing
>**consulting, tutorials, conferences, publications**
>E-Mail: reiter@wirelessinternet.com
>Phone: 301-951-0385  Fax: 630-982-1994
>http://www.wirelessinternet.com
>
>
>Dave Farber wrote:
>
> > >From: Bosley_J <Bosley_J@bls.gov>
> > >To: Dave Farber <farber@cis.upenn.edu>
> > >
> > >
> > >Hi Dave:
> > >I don't know how many IP'ers sub to Jakob Nielsen's Alertbox, but if 
> any are
> > >interested in usability issues, it's a great service! He can be one 
> dilly of
> > >a curmudgeon, but you gotta listen to him!
> > >John Bosley
> > >
> > >-----Original Message-----
> > >From: alertbox@nngroup.com [mailto:alertbox@nngroup.com]
> > >Sent: Sunday, July 9, 2000 10:37 PM
> > >To: Alertbox Announcement List
> > >Subject: Alertbox: WAP Backlash
> > >
> > >
> > >The Alertbox for July 9 is now online at:
> > >   http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20000709.html
> > >
> > >Experience with WAP in Europe shows that it is hard to use. Because of the
> > >miserable usability of the small phones, services must be re-designed for
> > >each handset, increasing maintenance costs.
>
>--