200 million show mobile users happy with multimedia

This is the main reason I choose user agent detection for developing mobile sites this way I can offer a more feature rich experience to smartphone users and a slimmed down version for those on non smartphone devices... Give it two more years and I think the market will be dominated entirely by smartphones and this will be less of a concern...

What would be interesting to see is a breakdown of what phones are accessing YouTube and what network they are on... For some phones video can be viewed progressively ie as it's being downloaded therefor there is no wait time I know the iPhone and certain newer androids are capable of this, whereas with certain scripts and certainly large images this is not the case they have to be fully downloaded before they can be functional or rendered.

To me it's important as a mobile web developer to understand and be able to accommodate the end user and provide them with the best user experience that their device can handle, ideally I wish everyone was on a 4g network and using a high end smartphone! Lol however in most instances clients are not prepared to spend extra dollars to accommodate this, which is fine providing they are made aware they are alienating the majority of non smartphone users.

I agree the landscape for mobile sites and in general mobile marketing is changing quickly.

Just keep in mind its ALWAYS ABOUT THE USERS EXPERIENCE!

Sometimes less is more sometimes less is not enough

Mark Riddle

We are talking about 2 totally different things here.

The statistics provided above mean nothing to the local restaurant owner who needs a mobile website so customers can view their menu and order while on the run. They mean nothing to the local tow truck company who needs a mobile website so people can quickly call them when their car breaks down. They also mean nothing to the person driving along looking for the number of their local dry cleaner so they can call them and find out what time they close.

Do you think any of these people are looking to watch videos? No, these people have a specific reason as to why they are visiting a website and these are the people we are targeting with a mobile website. Those people who are looking for quick and easy to access information while on the go.

There are mobile websites for entertainment purposes and there are mobile websites for business purposes. I am in the game of providing mobile websites for business because it means you are providing value to a business and you can very easily justify your charge.

Myself nor the local business owner cares about the 200 million views of Youtube videos that are hapenning from young people sitting on their iphone or ipad (via a wifi connection) on the couch while watching TV. Those statistics don't matter to him. They are irrelevant. You are talking about 2 very different audiences and those statistics are not relevant for both.

If I am developing a mobile website for a company website that plays video (ie Youtube) then yes, video is going to be a big part of that website. If I am developing a mobile website for the local business owner then no, video is not going to play a role in that - there simply is no need for it. Mobile websites are about simplicity.

Good insights Will

Oh by the way I have been using the free microsoft sharepoint designer 2007 to edit the pages in your script and it works great.

Download Details - Microsoft Download Center - SharePoint Designer 2007

Quentin