I have a warning and a challenge for Pocket PC developers!
Right now developers are looking at the wireless Internet and trying to determine the types of applications that will be useful to Pocket PC users. Many wireless service operators, as well as developers, believe that if they simply make the wired Internet accessible to handhelds through a wireless connection, nothing else needs to be done. And many people seem to believe that there is a huge consumer market out there just waiting to be wirelessly enabled.
The warning: Don't make the mistake of believing that Pocket PC users will surf the Web over the faster wireless networks coming next year, like they do using a desktop system. Being mobile is quite different from sitting in front of a desktop PC with a fast Internet connection and a large screen. Mobile workers are multitasking, darting in and out of meetings, riding in cabs, catching airplanes, and trying to cope with their information requirements in near-real time. It is not realistic to expect this group of users to invoke a browser and surf the Web for information they want and need.
Yes, we are getting faster wireless networks Verizon and Sprint PCS will be rolling out 153-Kbps data in the next year or so. But remember that this is a total data rate that is shared by everyone who wants to access data within a given cell sector. Realistically, you will have to plan on the worst-case scenario, which could be an access speed of less than 50 Kbps or so. What's more, Bluetooth-enabled devices will also become available during this period of time. A Pocket PC equipped with Bluetooth (a short-range "wireless wire") will be able to "talk" via a wireless phone to a wide-area network.
There are also plenty of networks that won't be as fast as those of Sprint PCS and Verizon. BellSouth Wireless Data and Motient, both nationwide packet-data networks, offer speeds of between 8 and 19.2 Kbps, as does CDPD, which is available in about half of the United States. If you ignore the capabilities of these networks better in-building coverage, seamless roaming, and constant connection when within coverage you will be walking away from a potentially large number of device users in favor of what is easy: higher-speed networks and not-so-popular browsers.
The challenge!
Even though most people use a browser to access the Internet from their desktop computers, I strongly believe that the browser should be the application of last resort in a wireless environment! The challenge: provide access to the Internet from within existing applications! I think that once you understand the premise, you may, in fact, decide to build similar access methods into desktop programs as well.
Active Content
Barney Dewey, my consulting partner, coined the expression "Active Content" some time ago and we have been promoting the concept at every opportunity. The premise of Active Content is that once a piece of data has been entered into an application, it should never have to be entered again, and that updates related to that information should be automatic and/or on-demand from the user.
To better understand how Active Content differs from the browser model, let's run through an example: Tomorrow I have a flight from San Jose to Dallas on American Airlines. I will rent a car from Hertz in Dallas and drive to the Marriott hotel. In the morning, I will visit a client. All of this information has been entered into my desktop system, and my desktop has synchronized with my Pocket PC.
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