I love mobile data – I use it plenty but I’m not of the evangelical school that says that mobile data will replace fixed data for everything.
It was really interesting (and refreshing) to read Scott’s post giving his views on what works, and what doesn’t, on the mobile web.
What works
Quick Reference – the sort of thing you need at a bar when someone asks for some obscure piece of information
E-mail – self explanatory
Voicemail – believe it or not some people still do voice
Address Book
Geography – Google maps et al
Access – cost of mobile access vs cost of fixed line access
What doesn’t
Actually getting work done – office productivity, data entry and even routine blog entry
Extended text – I personally want to be able to see when I’m 60. Too much time spent reading text on a mobile won’t further this aim
Photos – when you’ve finished doing fancy finger work with photos on an iPhone – you’ll realise that it’s like comparing a box brownie with a Hasselblad
So what do you think – what do you do (and what don’t you do) on the mobile web?
Ben Kepes is an analyst, an entrepreneur, a commentator and a business adviser. His business interests include a diverse range of industries from manufacturing to property to technology. As a technology commentator he has a broad presence both in the traditional media and extensively online. Ben covers the convergance of technology, mobile, ubiquity and agility, all enabled by the Cloud. His areas of interest extend to enterprise software, software integration, financial/accounting software, platforms and infrastructure as well as articulating technology simply for everyday users. 
Email all the time. Light browsing (Whitepages lookup). Once a month if I am in a different city I start Google Maps Mobile to check how to get somewhere. And voice calls on a mobile handset. Voice is the killer application for mobile. Still. People don't realise this.
Yep – imagine little old voice being heralded as a killer app……
"Actually getting work done – office productivity, data entry and even routine blog entry" I'm not sure you are on the right track here. Doing exactly the _same_ data entry on the phone is something that doesn't work so well but targeted data entry is a great application for mobile. The best time to enter your car mileage is when you actually go on the trip. The best time to enter that expense item is when you spend the money. So mobile can be used for data entry but it has to be targeted at specific tasks and the interface has to be built to enable this data entry in the most efficient way possible.
@Glen and it has to be alphanumerically lite – it's just too hard to enter lots of data on a mobile
Our experience at iPayroll is that mobile access can be a god-send to business owners caught out of the office on pay day. While light data-entry is possible, its really about checking and confirming details that someone else has entered and mobile can work well for that. The iPhone extends the ability to do (light) data entry and – speaking from personal experience – is great for reading moderately extended text (think a few full newspaper articles, but not a complete book).
I use a mobile phone just to make (or receive) call during the day (8-30am to 5pm), then its off after 5pm. Anyone (family/relatives/friends) who wants to get in touch with me has to leave a message on my home land-line if I am not at home. I view the phone as a useful tool to help me get thru the day for things that are work related, but not something that I want to carry around 24 hours because it starts to take control of myself. There is no doubt that mobile application will become dominant over the next few years especially in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Context_awareness&qu…rel="nofollow">Context Awareness</a> something like location-aware recommendation. There are tons of research publications on mobile awareness applications.