Goodbye Mobile Websites? Intel say "There is just ‘one’ Internet"

This should stir up some comments. ZDNet Asia picked up on something Intel have actually been saying for a while but never really this directly.

“There is just ‘one’ Internet. It is very difficult to sustain mobile Web sites. Attempts to make a ‘second’ Internet [for mobile users] will disappear” [David ‘Dadi’ Perlmutter Via Zdnet]

This ties in with my desire for the full internet experience (FIE) which I think is achievable in a a handheld, pocketable device but I don’t think the need for mobile Internet will go away. Why? Because it’s currently impossible to get the entry-level requirement of an 800×480 screen onto a totally converged, consumer-sized 24/7 pocketable device. If we look 10 years into the future where we have pull-out 5″ screens then maybe there are some technical options but even then, the simple, pocketable, candybar solution with a 2″ screen will still be favored by most. As much as i’d love it to happen, the 4-5″ MID is NOT going to take over the Mobile Internet world

The people that need the FIE are the ones that will drive a single Web and look for a MID solution but that’s nowhere near enough to remove the need for mobile-tailored sites. Even the FIE fans will need mobile versions of the Internet from time to time. Either because it’s simpler, because its cheaper, because its more fun or because its quicker in low-bandwidth situations. For many other people the Internet is only about search and short messages and doing that on a full website is just inefficient. Example: The fastest and easiest way for me to get emails on the go is still to use the Gmail J2ME app on my 6280 featurephone over a UMTS connection. My N82, a smartphone, is slower. My fastest ultra mobile PC is slower still! If I want the FIE, I move to a UMPC/MID but that’s ONLY if I need the FIE.

Sorry Dadi, I love what Intel are doing for the Mobile Internet but mobile-tailored versions of the Web will not disappear.