Mobi is perfectly positioned to take advantage of the list of problems for the concept of "full content" outlined in the article.
Infrastructure, or lack thereof, is seldom discussed by those who think the mobile web will be unlimited, cheap, and full dot com types of sites will be the way of the near future. The present infrastructure is strained already. Tens of millions of people casually browsing the web via a mobile device will require a lot more bandwith than is currently available.
Small screen sizes are the predictable future. People understand the difference between a notepad computer and a cellphone. They are recognized for different purposes. I see lots of young people in the local coffee shop using their laptops with the free WIFI. I doubt they want to lug around their notepad or laptop when they go out on a date or are cruising in their car. They all have laptops AND a cellphone and each has a purpose.
Battery life and the heat generated by computer chips are also a problem for a small mobile device. Again, unless the technology catches up, and it has a long ways to go, smaller devices are most sustainable.
Mobi wasn't created out of thin air. It was a response to the fractured wireless internet and the lack of use by consumers. Aside from .com, it is the only extension created for a specific technology need. The other extensions are simply another channel to reach the same audience on the same medium. Mobi is looking for their audience on a different medium.
Regardless of what the final extension of choice becomes, it is important that one platform reigns supreme. Continued fracturing of the internet, with a myriad of different solutions, isn't conducive to further expansion of mobile browsing.
Someday, as technology permits, perhaps the mtld will adjust the development requirements. Until the technical problems and infrastructure are cured, it isn't necessary.
It is amazing to me that companies and people will bend over backwards trying to avoid the simplest solution available.
Self interest ? Lack of confidence ? Greed ?
Whatever the reasons, and they are varied, people should embrace mobi as the defacto extension and work with it.
If further changes are needed. to "open" up more development as technology advances, it is a simple process for the mtld to change the rules accordingly.
