Peter Sinclair: Wap wave hits early shoals

By PETER SINCLAIR

Einstein notwithstanding, Sir Isaac Newton's Third Law of Physics ("to each action there is an equal and opposite reaction") certainly still applies in the case of Wap (wireless application protocol).

Overhyped by its European principals, the technology faces a growing chorus of detractors.

From a Wap thread in one of the Herald's online forums: "Wap schmap. Who cares? Mobile internet is the go, on a Palm, or Psion or Pocket PC with full HTML, graphics, etc. And it's not far away either. Who would bother with Wap?" - David Vaassen.

"Wap may be slow now as the internet was four years ago. Four years from now your mobile will do more for you than the internet does now." - G. Crane.

"Wap: irritating, expensive cwap."- Johnboy.

"I've had Wap for 6 months and it's pretty darn average. I've worked on the marketing of this over here with Orange. I don't see how New Zealand will be able to get a decent range of sites I wouldn't get too excited." - Matt in London.

"Soon phones will converge with other small personal communication devices like the Palm in ways that can't be imagined on current handsets. Wap will be useless in this environment. [It] will be the low-end option. Take a 36-month contract at your own peril." - Francis.

At last month's NetMedia 2000 conference in London, many speakers disparaged Wap as a flawed approach to portability, delivering user-unfriendly services. They pointed out that if you've got a mobile in your hand most data-needs can be met more quickly by placing a voice-call than using Wap.

Discussions in the Wireless Access Protocol Forum suggest serious compatibility issues between current and future Wap Markup Languages which might involve doubling both code and memory - bad news for developers.

Commentators quote negative usability studies to argue that the communications future lies not with the mobile phone but in the always-on handheld devices mentioned by our readers.

British web-design companies, while enjoying the cashflow from Wap clients, are said to be distancing themselves from the technology by using the term 'mobile internet.'

They are doing this in order to "dissociate themselves from the coming Wap failures and retain credibility as providers of the next generation of solutions."

Equally dubious about Wap is Forrester Research which, while not disputing that mobile web is the next stage in the internet lifestyle, says 70 per cent of respondents in a recent survey would prefer a full-featured PDA.

Yet it's not impossible that Wap can still haul its chestnuts from the fire - witness the runaway success of DoCoMo's Wap-like iMode in Japan. It is heading for 17 million users by year's end. Its transmission protocol is Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), which allows several subscribers to use the same line at once at 9.6 Kbps, enough for short email and simple graphics.

iMode is rumoured to be preparing to invade Wap's European home turf. Should it do so, it is suggested the two technologies will likely merge to the benefit of each. CDMA, for example, allows word-wrap.

iMode's success lies in cheap, fast, continuous net access at a fixed charge of about $US3 a month, plus data-charges (30c per 'packet' of data).

Its takeup can only be accelerated by the recent agreement between Sony and NTT DoCoMo to port certain PocketStation games to the latter's mobiles.

But over and above the question of which system will prevail there are still those nagging health issues - whether our desire to keep in touch is also frying our brains. According to the Australian, radiation levels will soon have to be shown on Aussie packaging in the form of "specific absorption rates," with their significance explained.

Worse, the Register has just published results of laboratory tests on animals under the headline: "It's Official: Mobile Phones Give You Diarrhoea."

No wonder you hardly ever see a mouse with a mobile!

Bookmarks:

MOST OPPORTUNISTIC: Sharezilla 1.0

It had to happen - how to promote products and services (aka spam) over the Gnutella network, likely successor to Napster.

"Our job is to develop the software, keep it ahead of the curve, make sure it's never blocked; you just have to make sure that you get it in time and exploit it for all that it's worth."

Advisory: at least they're upfront about it.

MOST MOVING: The Art of Grahame Sydney

Dominating the Montana New Zealand Book Awards 2000 last week (Montana Medal, Readers' Choice Award, Illustrative Arts category), Sydney's vacant, desolate Otago landscapes have now been hung in cyberspace.

Already owned by collectors like Nelson Mandela, Elton John and Sam Neill, you too can appreciate the works of a New Zealand Wyeth at this new website.

Advisory: the online shop offers lithographs, posters, cards.

MOST PRESTIGIOUS: Webby Nominations

The International Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences is calling for entries in the fifth annual Webby Awards.

Two new categories, Spirituality and Government/Law, join the other 27: They are

Activism, Arts, Broadband, Community, Commerce, Education, Fashion, Film, Finance, Games, Health, Humour, Kids, Living, Music, News, Personal Web Sites, Politics, Print/Zines, Radio, Science, Services, Sports, Technical Achievement, TV, Travel, and Weird.

Speaking as a nominating judge, I can think of a number of local sites which can and should be entered.

Advisory: submit your site at the URL below ...

Links:

WAPsight

NetMedia 2000

WAP Forum

UseIt.com

Forrester Research

VNuNet.com

Sony

NTT DoCoMo

The Australian

The Register

Sharezilla

Gnutella

Napster

The Art of Grahame Sydney

Webby Awards

International Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences

E-mail: petersinclair@email.com