There is somewhat of a mobile revolution going on at the moment, in that lots of marketers are promoting how to build a list from text message advertising. Or how to make your sites compatible with most smartphones’ browsers. I personally don’t like the look of a lot of mobile enabled sites, as you only get to see a fraction of what you can see on a computer screen – and no images – hello?!
I want to see images. I’m a visual kinda gal. So I prefer to visit non-mobile enabled sites on my Android phone, and zoom in when I have to. Of course there are exceptions, and it is handy sometimes when you just have the post and page titles. But that’s when you’re scouring for specific keywords, as you would when scanning an RSS reader. I’d love to see both views enabled, so you are not restricted either way.
Of course it can be advantageous to marketers to have their sites mobile enabled as they can control what the viewer sees, but as both a marketer and a browser, I’d like to see sites with both views available. Why not have the mobile version that the marketer (site owner) wants you to see first, then have a Full Site icon (similar to the Full Screen icon on videos) so that people who want to see the full layout, can?
Of course it would have to be standard across all platforms. I could spend a small fortune on developing it myself, but you never know; something similar could be released next month. I think it would be cool though, and the more popular smartphones become (eventually obliterating all other mobile phones), the more demand there’ll be for this type of service.
So for now, I’m leaving my sites alone, but I have found the next best thing from one mobile browser. At Opera.com you can see how your site looks on Opera Mini, at least. I have not made this EngineerYourSuccess.com site mobile enabled, yet it looks fine on Opera Mini. Although the text looks squashed up on the left, this is to enable you to read it without scrolling across once you zoom in (right pic). This would be perfect if it were on all platforms.
BTW ten years ago the US hit show Friends mocked the way Brits called cellphones “mobiles”, and now everyone is calling them mobiles. It’s not often we get to set word trends.
