We discussed, we debated, and we argued the meaning and pulse of the mobile web. And in the end, as Russell Beattie did, we concluded that the mobile web as it was conceived, is dead. Moore’s law, the lack of common standards, and the indifference of North American carriers have all conspired to kill the mobile web dead. There is no mobile web. There is only the fact that the web is becoming mobile.
We also had a lengthy conversation about Apple’s iPhone SDK, developer programs, and whether or not a “Jailbroken” iphone developer might be penalized by Apple. Fring was the example we talked about, as they have defied Apple and simply gone ahead and built an application for iPhone.
The Economist article on mobile nomads was sadly a casualty of time. We ‘ll discuss it tomorrow instead.
Alec Saunders is the Vice President of Developer Relations for BlackBerry maker Research in Motion. This is his personal blog, with his personal viewpoints. Prior to this Alec was the CEO and co-founder of Calliflower — the easiest way to hold a meeting, online, on a conference call, or on the go. A double-decade veteran of product management and marketing, he spent nine years at Microsoft where he helped launch Windows 95, the first two versions of Internet Explorer, the Universal Plug and Play initiative, the push into home markets, opt-in email marketing and what might well go down in history as the very first direct email list ever.
