Lisa Huetteman

The year 2001 witnessed significant progress in the development of applications for mobile data. Advertisements now tell consumers they can get driving directions, manage personal information, access enterprise applications, and even receive video clips on their mobile devices. The mobile Internet appears poised for takeoff, but economic lessons learned from its desktop predecessor will determine its ultimate success. If we didn't know better, we might think that mobile data, mobile Internet, wireless Web, or whatever you wish to call it is a way to access the existing Internet while sitting at an airport or outdoor café using a mobile device. Some operators market their mobile data services this way. Perhaps there is a resemblance between the two experiences, but comparing mobile Internet to the traditional or fixed Internet is not comparing apples to apples. There... (more)