Consumers Demand More from Mobile Web Surfing

In an interview with O'Reilly Radar writer Mac Slocum, Joshua Bixby, president of Strangeloop, said that the days in which consumers were happy to just be able to connect to the Web with their mobile devices are long gone. Today, the owners of smart phones and tablets demand that Web pages load quickly on their mobile devices and that these pages include all the bells and whistles of a full Web experience.

And, Bixby told Slocum, those companies that can provide this experience are the ones poised to thrive. And those that can't? They'll fade away.

Web, mobile Web no longer separate entities

As Bixby says in the interview, the Web and the mobile Web can no longer be considered two separate entities. Today's consumers expect their Web experience to be just as smooth and complete whether they're reading a forum on their laptop or reading a newspaper on their smart phone.

Of course, what's most interesting is that the smart phone market is still so young. As prevalent as these devices appear to be, the truth is that the vast majority of consumers still don't own smart phones. Bixby cites this stat in the O'Reilly Radar story: 155 million U.S. mobile phone users aren't using smart phones.

The smart phone revolution

Bixby says that this stat shouldn't prevent developers from creating a rich mobile Web experience. Change happens quickly when it comes to technology, and new mobile users are picking up smart phones before they experiment with lesser mobile models. Many of these new tech users, then, will do the vast majority of their Web browsing through smart phones or other mobile devices.

Too much focus on apps?

Today, Bixby says, too many developers are focusing on apps rather than their own Web sites. This can lead to problems. Bixby points to this example: Users, while accessing their Twitter feeds through a tablet or smart phone, click on a link to a story that interests them. However, instead of the link taking these users directly to the news story, it takes them to a page that demands that they download the news site's app. Those users who actually do this, and don't skip this step, are then taken to the news site's home page and not the location of the actual story they wanted to read. To get to that story, they'll then have to go back to their Twitter feed to find the original link.

This, Bixby says, is a good example of developers missing an opportunity to take true advantage of mobile devices.

It's clear that Web sites that don't create a good experience for mobile users will miss out on traffic and customers. Consider Bixby's interview a wake-up call.