Mobile was nowhere at Les Blogs – why?

Hanging around with Loïc these past few months, and especially after Les Blogs, I realized how Mobile is really not part of the discussion.

I didn’t hear any real discussion of mobiles at Les Blogs. Also, I can’t recall seeing any operator or other company focused on mobiles. Nor did I think that many of the companies actually understood the impact mobiles could have on what they do, except maybe Six Apart and maybe Rodrigo Sepulveda (I hope I’m missing others).

Oh yes, I think everyone understands the things that can be done with the mobile, but the view is as a little PC, not as a something with specific benefits, strongly tied to pocketability and mobility and usability. It keeps coming back to my head – that fusion between PC, mobile, and web; kinda like what Lifeblog is doing.

What do you think?

I think these new web companies* need to be more aggressive in penetrating the mobile world with their new innovative services. But, that can only be done if they really know how these services can be integrated into mobiles in special ways – if they truly know the mobile world.

This is not about sending stuff to servers via email. And it’s only partially about making on-device clients. It’s also about smart and focused web applications for mobile use – viewable on small screens (unlike most blog services), respectful of slow and unstable connections (unlike ATOM), clever use of Java and Symbian (or Palm, Andrew), better use of server and mobile to balance the work, mobile-friendly billing and subscription, and maybe even some clever use of PCs (there are a hundred reasons why).

I’m not making any big revelations here. I just can’t figure out why it seems irrelevant to these companies (maybe it is).

Also, I think these web companies should fall over themselves trying to help manufacturers and operators include protocols and apps into their devices, such as RSS and ATOM and such. I think most of the manufacturers and operators will include these into their platforms, but will try to do it themselves. Bad move.

I was hired by Nokia mostly because I could bridge the Web and mobile world. And it is still important. I think this mashing of mobile-Web-PC is where it’s at (I think I said this before). So, where are those who can dip deep into both the mobile and Web world?

Hmm, I know I’m one dude who can do it. Guess it’s time to become a consultant. 😉

*Note: To me, the Web world of the new and innovative companies that attended Les Blogs is a world of PCs with large screens and hard drives, fast processors, and broadband connections. These companies are the ones who will do the ‘next big thing’, but I am afraid they will not remember the 1+ billion mobile users out there.