The Web On Everything
Dr. Rohit Khare
W3C Tenth Anniversary
1 Dec 2004
Web on Everything
Takeshi Natsuno (NTT DoCoMo)
Philipp Hoschka (W3C)
Balaji Prasad (EDS)
Moderator: Rohit Khare (CommerceNet Labs)
The Web on Everything?!
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Over the past decade, our Web has gone boldly where no Web has gone before:
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URLs have been sighted in some very unexpected locations;
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Web servers have been embedded in some very exotic devices;
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and Web browsers have been written for some bizarre platforms!
Web URLs on Everything?!
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... chopsticks?
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When we moved into Tech Square, we were astonished to see that even the lunch trucks were posting menus online by 1994...
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... comets?
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It's become routine for JPL to include CD-ROMs of people's names and other mission information on space probes, such as the (planned) collision with Tempel 1 in July 2005.
Web URLs on Everything?!
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... urinals?
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Anywhere you see a company name and logo, you can expect to see a link to a company website!
- (or should that be URInals?)
Web Servers on Everything?!
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... an ethernet jack?
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Lantronix offers a complete HTTP server (with AES encryption!):
Web Servers on Everything?!
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... shoes?
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The Adidas 1 Smart Shoe has microprocessors stats & control:
Web Browsers on Everything?!
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... telephones?
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Entire conference proceedings' worth of interactive voice recognition and response systems
were brought back into the spotlight now that the Web could bring real information to bear
for weather, flights, news, etc.
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... cellphones?
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By far the most commercial contentious scenario for extending the web to a new platform was the cellphone market:
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New form factor
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Limited input
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Flaky networks
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Framed as an unnecessarily divisive "WAP vs. Web" debate, since Web standards can (and did) adapt.
Web Browsers on Everything?!
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... refrigerators?
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Yes, even from kitchen appliances! (LG,
Samsung)
Web Browsers on Everything?!
... and yes, once again, urinals!
The Viewrinal with CaptiveView, a hot new UK ad medium.
Copyright 2001 - www.urinal.net. Photo used with permission of the author.
Takeshi Natsuno
- Managing Director for Multimedia Services, DoCoMo
Towards Enabling the Mobile Web (Finally)
- Philipp Hoschka, W3C Deputy Director for Europe
Mobile Web: My First Encounter
Reading W3C homepage in Tokyo subway, February 2000
Why Mobile Web Access is Useful
- Future: M-Commerce, Mobile Enterprise, Location-Based services ...
maybe
- Today: Strong anecdotal evidence
- Teleconference from Osaka backstreet
- Pub argument in UK
- Decipher menus in Barcelona
- ...
Why Mobile Web Access is Possible
Source: RusselBeattie.com
Some Statistics
Source: T-Mobile, modeled on Credit Suisse First Boston, Mobile Data 2004,
Pyramid Research, Global Mobile Capex Handbook, August 2004
Internet-Enabled Mobile Phone Penetration
| Region |
April 2004 |
| Japan |
79% |
| Other Asia |
54% |
| Europe |
47% |
| North America |
37% |
| Brazil |
37% |
| Worldwide |
49% |
Source: A.T. Kearny/University of Cambridge - Judge Institute of
Management, July 2004
Why Mobile Web Access is Hard
- While commuting to work, user sees a URL on a bill-board
- "Hey -- I've just bought a snazzy new phone with access to 'the Web,'
right? I'll give it a try!"
- Works for 15 minutes to figure out how to enter a URL into their
phone's browser
- Seems to load something, but logos and images are so huge that it's
impossible to make sense of the user interface on the small phone
screen
- 'Wait -- I'll try my mobile phone provider's web site -- I'm sure
theirs will work!'
- Same result.
- Tries to log in to favorite web mail system.
- "Sorry, your browser doesn't support cookies!"
- Throws phone out train window.
W3C's Mobile Web Initiative
- Goal: Make mobile Web access as seamless, uncomplicated and reliable as
desktop Web access
- Nov 18/19 Barcelona workshop
- Operators: Vodafone, NTT DoCoMo, Orange/France Telecom, T-Mobile,
...
- Browser Vendors: ACCESS, Openwave, Opera, Obigo/Teleca, ...
- Content Providers: BBC, MSN, Yahoo!, ...
- Authoring Tool Vendors: Adobe, ...
- Mobile software: HP, Oracle, PalmSource, Sun, ...
- Handset manufacturers: Nokia, RIM, SonyEriccsson, ...
- The major players were there!
- Support for
- Best practices for mobile web content
- "MobileOK" trust-mark
- ...
It's 1996 All Over Again ...
| Web 1996 |
Mobile Web 2004 |
| Too slow |
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It's 1996 All Over Again ...
| Web 1996 |
Mobile Web 2004 |
| Too slow |
Too slow |
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It's 1996 All Over Again ...
| Web 1996 |
Mobile Web 2004 |
| Too slow |
Too slow |
| Lack of interoperability |
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|
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It's 1996 All Over Again ...
| Web 1996 |
Mobile Web 2004 |
| Too slow |
Too slow |
| Lack of interoperability |
Lack of interoperability |
|
|
|
|
|
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It's 1996 All Over Again ...
| Web 1996 |
Mobile Web 2004 |
| Too slow |
Too slow |
| Lack of interoperability |
Lack of interoperability |
| "What's new?" |
|
|
|
|
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It's 1996 All Over Again ...
| Web 1996 |
Mobile Web 2004 |
| Too slow |
Too slow |
| Lack of interoperability |
Lack of interoperability |
| "What's new?" |
"What's new?" |
|
|
|
|
It's 1996 All Over Again ...
| Web 1996 |
Mobile Web 2004 |
| Too slow |
Too slow |
| Lack of interoperability |
Lack of interoperability |
| "What's new?" |
"What's new?" |
| Child protection |
|
|
|
It's 1996 All Over Again ...
| Web 1996 |
Mobile Web 2004 |
| Too slow |
Too slow |
| Lack of interoperability |
Lack of interoperability |
| "What's new?" |
"What's new?" |
| Child protection |
Child protection |
|
|
It's 1996 All Over Again ...
| Web 1996 |
Mobile Web 2004 |
| Too slow |
Too slow |
| Lack of interoperability |
Lack of interoperability |
| "What's new?" |
"What's new?" |
| Child protection |
Child protection |
| Not accessible |
|
It's 1996 All Over Again ...
| Web 1996 |
Mobile Web 2004 |
| Too slow |
Too slow |
| Lack of interoperability |
Lack of interoperability |
| "What's new?" |
"What's new?" |
| Child protection |
Child protection |
| Not accessible |
Not accessible |
... But Not Quite 1996
| Web 1996 |
Mobile Web 2004 |
| Few connected users |
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... But Not Quite 1996
| Web 1996 |
Mobile Web 2004 |
| Few connected users |
Many potentially connected users |
|
|
|
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... But Not Quite 1996
| Web 1996 |
Mobile Web 2004 |
| Few connected users |
Many potentially connected users |
| Lack of content |
|
|
|
... But Not Quite 1996
| Web 1996 |
Mobile Web 2004 |
| Few connected users |
Many potentially connected users |
| Lack of content |
Lots of potential content |
|
|
... But Not Quite 1996
| Web 1996 |
Mobile Web 2004 |
| Few connected users |
Many potentially connected users |
| Lack of content |
Lots of potential content |
| No industry |
|
... But Not Quite 1996
| Web 1996 |
Mobile Web 2004 |
| Few connected users |
Many potentially connected users |
| Lack of content |
Lots of potential content |
| No industry |
Big potential industry |
Disrupting the Automobile
- Balaji Prasad, EDS Chief Technologist, Automotive Telematics
(link to slides)
Next Session
The Web For Everyone by Bill Gillis (Center to Bridge the Digital
Divide), George Kerscher (DAISY Consortium). Moderator: David Berlind (ZDNet).
All W3C10 Sessions