[housekeeper]

hey, you didn't hear this from me, so keep it on the DL Digital Landscapes

[student4ever]

won't tell anybody...

[cherilynn]

Shhhhh

m
o
b
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l
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[Tigger]

yeah and soon we'll all be walking around with G tattooed to our forehead

now let me look 6 months into the future ..............................

Google launches a mobile device that replaces the desktop

[housekeeper]

Given that mobile billing has stepped closer to the forefront, the future has arrived...

[student4ever]

I don't think there is any doubt that mobile is going to continue to be a bigger and bigger portion of how things get done and a reality for people like us to have to address, but...

The end of the desktop? Nope... don't buy it at all. Changes to how the destop is dealt with? yes, for sure. Sure, there are going to more and more people connected via portable devices, but until those devices can truly give the same user experience for everything - I just don't see the desktop going away.

What I do see as a possibility is where things were in the early days of the web when there was little to no meaningful standard between browsers. If you wanted a site that worked well in IE and Netscape - you virtually had to build two sites. If you want to handle desktop and mobile traffic, you'll have to have two sites. Each optimized for a platform. How many people feel confined working with ONLY 1024x768? WTF are they going to do with only 320 to work with?!

I'm still not using it enough to wrap my brain around what a 'good' layout would be. Basically all the sites I've ended up on with mobile have given virtually all text versions that end up scrolling FOR DAYS! How friggn annoying is that?!

An example... my son is approaching target age for mobil devices. He has his iTouch and a desktop. He uses his iTouch with wireless around the house and where he can get wifi connected. For him, wifi is to update his FB and quick email checks when he actually does email since that is getting to be rare for his generation. He surfs via the iTouch when he's too lazy go to his computer and wants to quickly look something up. When it's time to do real surfing though - don't even try to get him away from his computer!

I see more diversity in platforms, but none of them actually going away. I'm no futurist though, I'm just a geek caught in the middle of what is and what others think will be...

[housekeeper]

Originally Posted by student4ever

The end of the desktop? Nope... don't buy it at all. ...

Certainly not for us as designers and programmers, for the consumer, let's just say they'll be a serious separation of interests...

[student4ever]

there have always been different types of users and there always will be. just going to make it interesting to see how the percentages line up and what types of usage patterns we end up seeing on our surfer stats...

[Tigger]

despite all the shouting I still struggle with the mobile market I'm just too set in my ways

[student4ever]

it's like any other new market - research and wrapping your brain around it before getting it to work for you... and that only means more time... got lots of spare time, right?

[Tigger]

I think also using and understanding the market is key - I've worked, or tried working with genres I don't fully relate to and found it hard going and in most cases dropped the sites

[student4ever]

which means you'll actually have to consider getting a phone and using it for porn!

[Tigger]

do have one and its got a camera as well so nah!

[jello]

Originally Posted by Tigger

do have one and its got a camera as well so nah!

I got the same problem, all though i believe mobile Internet, porn or main stream is part of the future i can`t get my head around it.
I got a 3 year old cell phone (this is considered very old here) and only use it for emergencies, hell, i only buy $5 credit once in a three months.

[student4ever]

Originally Posted by Tigger

do have one and its got a camera as well so nah!

but you're not supposed to have to send the film in for developing!