Follow the Mobile User
Written by on March 29th, 2009 in Uncategorized.
This guest post is written by Vic Gundotra, Vice President of Engineering for Google’s mobile and developer products. (Prior to Google, he spent 15 years at Microsoft, most recently as their GM of Platform Evangelism.) Vic credits his now-7-year-old with forecasting the importance of mobile data access, and now carries at least 4 phones at all times. Fortunately, he had two kids before adopting the possibly-prophylactic habit.
Focus on the mobile user, and all else will follow
Simpler data, better browsers, and a smoother experience
Today the mobile industry finds itself in a unique position to do right by its users:
Worldwide phone penetration continues to climb at a break-neck pace, with over 4 billion mobile subscribers at last count.1 (In comparison, the PC industry is forecasted to see its sharpest unit decline in history.2) Prevailing economic conditions will accelerate this trend, as users consolidate pricey communication services into cost-effective, all-in-one mobile devices.3 And for the first time ever, half of all new connections to the internet will come from a phone in 2009.4
Google’s mobile traffic reflects these milestones — having quintupled since 20075 — and it underscores users’ appetite for mobile data services. But as a community of operators, device manufacturers and software providers, we continue to get in their way. In short, and as a general rule, we make it too costly, too unfamiliar, and too difficult to do anything beyond voice calls.
In reply I offer up three suggestions: simpler data plans, better web browsers, and a smoother on-device experience. And in each case I’ll use Google traffic numbers as a proxy for total internet usage and user happiness.
Source: TechCrunch
Original Article: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/i3YEn9ourBE/