Ajit on Read/WriteWeb on: Mobile web applications – do they need the browser?

Ajit is contributing to Read/Write Web, introducing a new audience to the joys of the mobile world. In this article (link below) he does a quick overview of what a mobile browser needs to contend with.

He asks:

After all, the browser works well on the PC as a universal client – why not on the mobile device? A corollary to this question is: are there fundamental differences with browsing on a mobile device vs. browsing on the web?

And then at the end he summarizes:

So, to answer our question – no, we cannot develop all mobile applications using the
browser only. However, as we shall show in subsequent posts, these limitations are being
overcome through Ajax and mobile web 2.0.

I think Ajit kinda leaves out at least one key point – because the browser on the phone will never (should never) equate to the browser on the PC and because the phone is not a PC, mobile apps will use the mobile browser differently than how the PC uses the browser.

So, it’s not fair to try and make comparisons. Let’s focus on how to use the browser on the PC to its highest efficiency, and, likewise, focus on using the mobile browser to its highest efficiency.

I know Ajit thinks this way. And I know he’ll cover it in his subsequent submissions. I just think we need to be up-front with PC-heads in getting them into the mobile-mindset, rather than letting them try and port their PC-centric thinking to a mobile phone. Right?

Link to Ajit’s article: Read/WriteWeb: Mobile web applications – do they need the browser?.

*We’re focusing on just the browser here as a universal client, not other types of apps. As for browsing apps, I don’t think Ajax is the answer. At least not in the near term. Better mobile app design is the way to go.