KensingtonReview.mobi is Never Going to Happen

The big news for the internet savvy crowd is the addition of a new suffix to the mix. Starting late next summer, some websites will be designated not by “.com” or “.org” but by “.mobi.” These sites will be specially designed for viewing on mobile devices like PDAs or cell phones. The smaller screen will require site designers to code their sites specifically for mobile devices. The Kensington Review has no intention of doing so.

Most websites are encoded for viewing on a screen measuring 800 x 600 pixels and for being viewed withy Microsoft Internet Explorer. Try playing with the resolution on one’s desktop or loading a different browser and the results range from amusing to terrifying. A great deal of time and effort has gone into many sites to get the look just right. Here, the words are the important part, and making the backing page pretty has taken mere hours rather than days. The hard-hearted might add that it shows, but the words themselves are more important than how they fall on the page.

For users of mobile internet devices, the average web-page is a pain below the neck. The group behind the .mobi domain, MTLD, said that subscriptions for mobile services is growing faster than internet use on mobiles – suggesting that there are a lot of people who aren’t accessing the internet even though they can. MTLD suspects that it is because websites are mobile-hostile.

The .mobi domain would allow search engines and users to find mobile-friendly sites faster. And if a site is easier to find, it may become more popular, which means more advertising revenue. In short, .mobi is supposed to make the internet more useful to mobile device users and, therefore, more profitable.

This is one of those situations where simply because one can do something doesn’t mean one ought to do something. KensingtonReview.mobi is not the wave of the future here. Smaller screens would mean a move away from readable type – and the writing is all that matters here. No animation, minimal graphics, and words. Some words are better chosen than others, conveying ideas that may or may not be thought provoking. And some topics may not be all that clever. Yet to adopt a .mobi format would be to yield to the dumbing-down of the world – in which case, it would be better to close up shop.


© Copyright 2005 by The Kensington Review, J. Myhre, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent.
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