Breaking this one into a separate thread...

On 26 Oct 2008, at 17:23, Luca Passani wrote:

> One thing to consider is that transcoding has been often introduced
> together with much discounted and/or flat data plans, which in
> itself is
> a great incentive for people to start using the mobile web or suing
> it more.

Yeah, that's true - and I guess improvements in devices could also be
seen as a factor as well (partic. looking at stats for iPhone web
usage, but I'd guess that even S60 etc tend to drive more online use).

> Anyway, I know of mobile websites which have seen their traffic from
> an
> operator drop down of up to 40% when a transcoder was introduced by
> that
> operator. The problem was that, in spite of the fact that the
> transcoder
> was a pass-through for that site, there was still a delay being
> introduced. A lot of users could not be bothered with the extra wait
> and
> they simply stopped using the service or simply used it less.


That's interesting. Any chance of getting some more data and details
to post here? I hadn't considered the effect that adding a proxy might
have on sites which the proxy lets through without alteration.

And anyone got any references for the usability of fixed web services
transcoded to a mobile version? For some apps (e.g. banking) I've
heard of end-users struggling with a desktop experience accessed
through a smartphone - because the value of having access to online
banking is so great. How about some objective stats on the quality of
transcoded desktop experiences?

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