Why Mobile?

FROM A LUKE Wroblewski-led mobile workshop currently in progress at An Event Apart San Francisco:

1. There are more mobile devices than there are people in the world.
2. 1.3 billion mobile page views a year.
3. Facebook says a few years form now “almost everyone at Facebook will focus exclusively on mobile.”
4. 1 in 10 mobile smartphones are iPhones. But one iPhone is responsible for twice the traffic of an Android phone (its nearest competitor).
5. 27% of all Yelp usage currently comes from mobile.
6. Web vs. Native: Facebook has 350 Million mobile users. 50% of that access is via the web. The other 50% is native (all platforms). All native apps put together equal the same usage as web.
7. “People will do stuff on the closest screen near them that is good enough.”
8. 50% of Africa and Asia only access the internet on mobile.
9. “Clinging to desktop experience and ignoring mobile is like a record company clinging to CDs while digital passes them by.” Luke W.
10. An entire generation of people starting to use the internet on mobile in Asia, Africa, etc. Kenya 20% of GDP happens on mobile devices. Mobile phones will overtake desktops as the most common web access devices worldwide by 2013.

And why mobile web (vs. native)?

1. Rapidly growing “real” businesses.
2. Access across multiple platforms and without apps.
3. Instant updates, fixes, and testing.
4. No plying in anyone else’s backyard.
5. Great way to get started with mobile.