Web Focus: The Web On Your Phone and TV

Brian Kelly     b.kelly@ukoln.ac.uk     (UK Web Focus UKOLN University of Bath Bath BA2 7AY ( web site)

Ariadne 2001
(ReLIS:doi:doiari:y:2001:i:26:p:17)

Abstract:

What's the future for Web browsing? Is it the PC running some flavour of MS Windows?. Will the Linux platform take off on the desktop? Or will the Macintosh come back into fashion? Many statistics on browser usage would suggest that the MS Windows platform has won the battle. As well as thinking about the hardware platform (which can affect the design of graphical images) many Web designers will also ask the question "Which browser should we design for - Netscape (probably still widely used in the academic community) or Internet Explorer (the leader in the market place)? A related issue is whether to make use of file formats which require browser plugins. Should interfaces make use of Macromedia's Flash technology? Should we provide documents in PDF format? Although the answer should be to develop device-independent Web services, in practice this can be difficult to do - authoring tools may introduce browser-specific extensions, HTML or CSS standards may not be implemented fully or correctly in Web browsers, end user requirements may necessitate the use of proprietary file formats, etc. But there are issues other than the browser and platform wars to be taken into account. What about non-PC access to the Web? This article looks at how the mobile phone and TVs can be used to access the Web and considers their use within an academic context.

Note: In the regular Web Focus column Brian Kelly speculates on the potential benefits of non-traditional devices for accessing the Web. This issue looks at the mobile phone and TV devices for accessing the Internet.
Month: 10-January-2001
Year: 2001

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