Going mobile…

I read Web Worker Daily pretty regularly. I think it provides fascinating insight into where we’re heading as both an online and general business community. But “where we’re heading” takes on a somewhat different meaning based on recent news. For instance, Richard MacManus describes the latest webtop service available, while others note the growth in mobile handsets and developments in mobile power. These sorts of developments, along with the WWD mindset, beg the question: at what point will the notion of “your computer” cease to be a place you go and become simply part of your life everywhere? For instance, I’ve written two posts this week out of my house, using different platforms each time. I wrote the first using my laptop in a parking lot via free, legal WiFi and I wrote this one on my BlackBerry Pearl between an Old Navy store and a Target while shopping with my daughters. Admittedly, typing on the Pearl is simpler for email or SMS, but with better input devices – think docking stations – and improving network access, the office of the future will refer less to a place and more to how effective you are. The same is true for any online activity users typically conduct, whether it’s shopping, paying bills, or keeping in touch.

Once the critical mass is there, marketers will have to think less about interruption as an effective tactic – if you haven’t already – and more about meeting consumers’ needs. When a consumer’s goal is to get something done, and the tools make it possible to do anywhere, the last thing that consumer will want to do is watch your pre-roll, wait for your banner to download (on a small screen, no less), or deal with an interstitial.