CNET has posted a video interview (the link pops open a window) with Paul Festa and Opera Software CEO Jon von Tetzchner demonstrating their mobile browser that I wrote about here. At the time I wrote:
I've always been skeptical when it comes to these attempts to repurpose web content on a mobile device as Opera's proposal or existing implementations such as Danger's HipTop browser. I've never seen them succeed at anything but frustrating users.
Web pages are designed for large high-resolution color displays, the use of keyboard and mouse and a reliable and relatively high bandwidth connection. Being a display language HTML is not terribly efficient or reliable for consumption by another application. "Qualified guessing" will yield the equivalent of a Frankenstein monster. It’s a hack at best.
Yes, if designed properly a Web page will scale gracefully and adapt to different displays and resolutions -- IF is the operative word though. Like eating your vegetables, most of know we should do it, but don't. Face it, web sites do some rather freaky things with HTML. You don't have to go past the world's most prominent software company's site to witness that.
I still remain skeptical this approach will ever work -- perhaps even more so after watching the video interview.
The interpreted CNET gateway used in demo seems readable, but it hardly looks like its original self. It also requires a lot of scrolling to read. The demo is also done using Sony Ericsson's P800 mobile phone which sports an extra large color screen. Goes to a Nokia phone momentarily and switches back to the Sony Ericsson device before giving a really good look.
Personally I remain optimistic and intruiged with the utilization of well-formed RSS and XSLT in addition to the development of novel applications (most likely using J2ME) for users on the move.
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