Re: why auto-refresh makes sense in the mobile context

Hi Barbara and all,

I'm Jose Manuel Cantera from Telefonica R&D (Spain). This is the first 
time I write to the list.

I think that the  problem of refreshing content should  be resolved 
using push technology such as WAP Push or a mechanism based on HTTP 
callbacks to the mobile terminal, although this last one could be very 
dependant on network issues.

IMHO it should be taken into account that users won't like an 
application that periodically connects to a server because of an 
increase in costs (in an operator network you pay each time you browse). 
Also in networks with low bandwith the mobile operator won't like some 
terminals performing periodic operations because it could collapse the 
network or decrease the quality perceived by other users of the service.

Regards

Barbara Ballard escribió:

>
> Many have argued that auto-refresh is especially bad for mobile  
> devices due to the cost of network connectivity, as well as due to  
> some accessibility issues.
>
> While I tend to agree with this argument for news applications, I  
> disagree for certain other applications.  For example, if I am  
> looking at a stock quote, I would prefer to trust that the data is as  
> recent as possible - I may be making financial decisions as a result.
>
> Similarly, if I am looking at an email inbox, I would like to have  
> the message list be up-to-date.  In particular, on a mobile device,  
> if I've bothered to leave the browser running (highly unlikely on a  
> phone) and pointed to an inbox page, I would like my email list to be  
> up to date - perhaps with a default of 5 minutes like most email  
> applications on computers.  This, of course, would be user-settable..
>
>
> Further, while I've never encountered a browser without a Back button  
> (or at least a Clear button which performs the Back function), I have  
> encountered several browsers which do not respect content expiration  
> times.  This experience spans 6 years of working with a wide variety  
> (perhaps 60 devices?) of mobile browsers in the US.
>
>
> ---
> Barbara Ballard       1-785-838-3003
> barbara@littlespringsdesign.com
>
>
>
>

Received on Friday, 25 November 2005 05:30:57 UTC