Publishing to the New web

The next technological revolution is upon us - the mobile internet.

Driven by Apple's ground breaking product development of the iPhone and iPad, the smart phone and tablet markets that make up the mobile internet are set to take off. And if the predictions in the charts below are correct, then we'd better get ready for it.

This gives content publishers both an opportunity and a headache. The opportunity is that more people are spending more time online consuming their material. The headache is that they want to access it on a suite of devices that are significantly different.

Opportunity

The Internet has always been a free environment; ask the newspapers how this has effected their business. Moves to break that mold and charge for content have yet to work outside limited premium publications such as the Financial Times (the jury is still out on the Times paywall experiment).

New platforms set new behaviours. iPhone and Android mobile users are used to paying for Apps and the iPad is going the same way. Will the mobile web give publishers back the ability to charge for content? If they deliver a better experience, then maybe they will. There are early signs that this is indeed the case.

Headache

But these Apps use a different technology and have different usability requirements. Smart phones are small, tablets have no mouse or keyboard. They are "rich media" devices and users will expect a richer experience.

Consequently, publishing to multiple platforms will take time and effort and there are associated costs.

The challenge

The challenge, therefore, is to publish your content once, but make it work effectively on multiple platforms. Publisers who are looking to sell their content on the new devices will need to deliver increased value on those devices that users are will to pay for. They may need to invest to deliver this value.

For smaller players and most non-publishing businesses, there is a simpler and cheaper solution. There is a common demoninator for all of these devices; they can be used to access "the internet" and work using standard Internet protocols. Simple changes in the way things are presented to these devices (which conform to existing best practice), will work effectively for many publishers and most business websites.

Conclusion

The uptake of the mobile internet will increase the amount of time that people spend online. You will get more visitors, who spend more time on your sites.

There will be an opportunity for those who use the new platforms to deliver premium content, content that users are happy to pay for.

The mobile internet is good news!

Published by: Mr Tom Barnes

Published 22nd November, 2010

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