Question, Google - Is WAP a simplified version of the web??
by Gil Rosen

From a purely technological perspective I guess the answer is simple and short – YES. Then again that’s not our point. We are here to represent users and discuss fundamental issues of the web’s evolution beyond the PC.

The recent post in Techcrunch regarding Google’s new calendar (A.K.A CL2) got me thinking (I Techrunch - therefore I think) about how the folks at Google plan to mobilize their ever increasing plethora of services.

Now a confession, I am three connections away (based on my linkedin network) from being close to any Google insider (boo-hoo) so my review is based on what I know as a regular user. Out of all existing services the one that interests me the most is Gmail Wireless. This is a perfect example of what “can be done” vs. “should be done” when a communication service goes mobile

At first glance, Gmail wireless is what you would expect, that is, if you have no expectations. The start is seamless, well, if you like typing links on your mobile. strike 1! . I put down http://m.gmail.com as a mobile bookmark. The login page is a scaled down version of the regular HTML page and is nicely done (My Nokia 6230 supports XHTML). Now the process itself: I login — see my inbox — select a message…Ugh…First prompt “Some items are unsecured , load unsecured items?” . Now this dialogue is common practice when the PC is concerned, but with WAP? What a pain! I answered “NO” and got thrown back to login (big hassle on mobile phone). On a PC I would have at least gotten the email WITHOUT the unsecure items but not here. Additional attempts (Answering “YES”) yielded strange page breaks as can be seen in the photos below.

OK for now… huh??? ouch…Errr!!!

To be on the safe side I ran this test with a text email, no photos, so the lack of security wouldn’t be a problem. Again, “Some items are unsecured , load unsecured items?” - GIVE ME A BREAK!!! – this is not my bank account.!!! After numerous tries and logins I got it, finally saw my email.

Strike 2 right there!

Going through other emails, this time with attachments I made use of the nice parsing feature that extracts the text within office documents. Media files are different however. A . video files (.wmv) are showen as text only – with no ability to download. Yesterday I covered Avvenu and even they let you see unsupported files and download them, so why not Google – doesn’t make sense.

The multi gazillion billion dollar internet company can’t afford to transcode?. Strike 3, you’re out! Users don’t care one bit about what they sent their friends beforehand – If you go mobile – go mobile! Solve problems that arise from going mobile! This is the difference between solving mobile ACCESS versus a true convergence solution that considers use cases beyond solving the technological issues. Give me access to all the files, rethink the flows, give me alerts, do something different.

Bottom line – as an “emergency email service” Gmail wireless works. That is if you really must access your emails. Otherwise it’s an overly simplified technological implementation of web based email in WAP. Not a true dive into the convergence pool. No news. What really disappoints me is that we are giving Google so much attention. If they were a young company, I assume I would be more forgiving. Google is the Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods and Lance Armstrong of the Internet world combined. That doesn’t add up to launching such a pale service that doesn’t break the ice. I dread to think what CL2, gTalk and the rest of the services will look like on my 128×128 pixels screen. Ladies and Gentlemen, what we have here is shameful Boat on Wheels!

Gil Rosen
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