take it take Posted October 29, 2006 Share Posted October 29, 2006 I've been toying with the idea of adding WAP capabilities to an existing site, primarily to list up-to-date concert/venue information for a specific area. I know that I have to crack open some books on WML programming and enable a WAP/WML module on Apache2 and I'm set. My question is: Is it worth the trouble getting WAP up or will that technology die off like VRML and other unpopular internet technology fads? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VaKo Posted October 29, 2006 Share Posted October 29, 2006 Who the hell uses WAP anymore? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparda Posted October 29, 2006 Share Posted October 29, 2006 I would ask your self "Is this cost effective?". Meaning, is it worth your time and effete to do this? How many people have actually tried to visit your website using there mobile phones currently? Will it potentially attract more people? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jool Posted October 30, 2006 Share Posted October 30, 2006 For modern phones you really don't need to do the whole WAP/WML thing. Instead just do a really minimalistic page on your normal web server and it will be just fine on most phones. This works since the later WAP specifications are actually limited XHTML over normal HTTP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
take it take Posted October 30, 2006 Author Share Posted October 30, 2006 I would ask your self "Is this cost effective?". Meaning, is it worth your time and effete to do this? Well, that's the same question I've been asking myself. But first, I need input from you all so I know whether this is worth my time and energy or not. I know about 4 years ago, a few friends and I had some talks about WAP enabled cell phones and its future. I did some web searching on WAP technology and there weren't much info on it. How many people have actually tried to visit your website using there mobile phones currently? I don't know the exact numbers, but I looking at my awstat stats page, quite a few use Java web browser, which may or may not be cell phone users. Will it potentially attract more people? IF I eventually decide to use WAP and IF people actually use WAP cell phones, sure, it'll attract more people. This is more for convenience to the users than to attract more hits to the site, like "Hmm, I wonder what concerts are going on tonight, but I'm too far from a computer with internet. I know, I'll look it up with my cell phone." Thanks for the input, guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cooper Posted October 30, 2006 Share Posted October 30, 2006 When WAP/WML was dreamed up the internet connection of cell phones was mindbogglingly slow, and the phone CPUs weren't exactly powerhouses either. What they didn't account for was that cell phones would take off like they did, becoming almost mobile entertainment centers these days. You can record and watch movies on them these days. And along with WiFi, mechanisms were devised that would allow you to transfer data to and from your phone faster. End result? Pretty much any phone that is web-enabled can be seen as a non-javascript enabled web client with a not so large screen. So your efforts are best spend making a site that accounts for those 2 deficiencies. And even regular folks who are still on slow connections (developing worlds and such) would be quite happy to see this I'm sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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