Dear Daphne (et al),
Just a few notes on WAP and it's usefulness for cultural heritage.
As far as "getting your site listed on the menu of any particular phone
company" this is currently a bit confusing. Companies like Vodafone
(in the UK and Australia), Optus (Australia) etc. currently don't allow
WAP users to access any content outside their own network. This means
you can only get to content provided by this particular provider. Some
providers tough give unrestricted access to any content on the web.
(of course this has to be WAP content to be visible in on the phone)
I believe this limitation has a technical reason as well as a
financial reason as you are forced to stick with the providers portal
site.
Yes it is cumbersome to enter a URL but i think that's where WAP
content portals with subject specific content will come in.
So what would you be using a WAP phone for? I can imagine going to
a museum and getting access to the museum's web server through
my phone. Perhaps the web server would deliver information about
exhibits or specific objects...
... But don't expect to find any of this any time soon. Main problems:
- speed
- price
- USER INTERFACE (I would have to agree that current WAP phones are
more than shocking from an interface point of view. I happen to
work for Australia's second largest telecom provider where I have
been able to "test drive" WAP phones. I would say it's about
10 times faster to make real world call to your local cinema than
finding out the what's on using the phone.)
You will find that with the next generation mobile phone (GPRS)
we will see an increase in data transmission speeds. I have also
heard rumors of Nokia and 3COM working on a PALM Pilot like mobile
phone. One thing is for sure though, wireless applications will
pop-up more and more. Why?
a) providers and manufacturers must have a reason to push new phones
and networks
b) the mobile phone market is starting to settle which means the
telecom providers will have an increased interest in new
applications to get more people connected
c) more people have phones than computers, hence want to push
the web to more people which are not computer literate wireless
applications are the next step...
Not sure how Dublin Core will fit in any of this??!
Thomas
"Charles, Daphne" wrote:
>
> Can I be controversial here?
>
> Realistically what can the Cultural Heritage community expect from WAP?
>
> Mobile phones are not really designed for entering text easily (including
> URLs), so nobody is going to use them to 'surf' the Web as we understand it.
> Probably to minimise typing, all applications will be menu-driven. The
> phone user will be offered a top level menu (News Headlines/Sports
> Results/Local Restaurants/Entertainment) with a set number of sites below
> each node. Getting your site listed on the menu of any particular phone
> company will depend more on your relationship with Vodafone than the quality
> of your metadata..
>
> Someone contradict me please!
>
> Daphne Charles
> Senior Developer
> English Heritage
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