Road-map to a better mobile web (and cooler hardware)

I want a dual screen phone that flips out like the g1 keyboard, and a keyboard that pops out beneath the first screen. No camera, limited software and a powerful set of web apps. Doesn’t really exist, does it? And there’s a chance it never will. Not that I don’t think the technology is available or will be soon (we’ll see about the dual screen - but I think mobile web use demands it). The reason I don’t see it happening is not because of the things I want, it’s because of my inability to remove the things I don’t want.

I think the mobile device industry could use a few lessons from PC manufacturers. Mobile phones are quickly becoming more like computers than phones, and it seems like much of the same missteps from the early (and not so early) history of the PC are being repeated. We know how things will play out, so why not skip ahead?

For example, Dell lets you build custom PCs, so why can’t I build a custom smart phone? When will this become the model for mobile devices? I think it eventually will be, but it seems far away. You can’t even pick your phone and your network independently at this point. The road-map I see for the future of mobile devices looks a lot like the past of the PC, but hopefully without some of the missteps and few less steps to get to the end goal. A few things need to happen first.

1. Stop the nonsense of phone and network linkage. This will be tough. Right now networks give huge discounts on phones for locking into their service. Theoretically if you remove this link you remove the discounts, but that’s not necessarily true. If you removed at&t’s monopoly on the iPhone, let consumers buy the phone and then let them choose the carrier, carrier’s would need to offer even larger discounts for new users - derived from the fear of consumer choice and non-exclusive agreements leading to loss in customers. This would lead networks to compete on their true assets - network strength and pricing plans.

2. The field of operating systems needs to be slimmed down. Too many proprietary systems are hanging around that do nothing but frustrate users with quirky conventions. Unless the web is the platform then we need some interoperability and that’s really best done through limiting the number of OSes available. This will either be done through competition and demand for an OS - which is being created with blackberry, android, mac, and to a lesser extent winmo - or by removing the OS element altogether (see #4).

3. Don’t treat the mobile web differently. There is no mobile web in the future. There is only one web accessible through different mediums. This is why I want the second screen. While working on my samsung ace is acceptable, and the G1 and iPhone are better, there is still much to be done on the hardware side of things before we can reach a point of integration that doesn’t require development of mobile and non-mobile properties. And it’s not just a matter of zoom in / out. Skyfire, for example, is a fix not a solution. A solution will have to come in the form of hardware.

4. Forget the OS. Number 2 is sort of an interim step that seems unavoidable given the current players in the market. But how far are we from having an always connected phone that can run web apps and store everything in the cloud, leaving minimal need for android, apple, winmo or any other specific OS.

5. Let me build it. I started with this point and I don’t think i’m alone in wondering why this isn’t a reality. It may have something to do with number 1 and the unnecessary meddling of networks in the handset business. I feel that it is akin to promoters and musicians, a relationship which faces a similar fate. In today’s society of high demand for customization and access to information this relationship won’t take as long to die. On the other hand, there is a definite cost factor - one that even has Dell changing direction - but one that could be lucrative - as it was for Dell in previous years.

There’s more that need to be done - especially on points like mobile payment - but all of the pieces need to fall into place before the promise of the mobile web can be realized.