The mobile phone is 40 years old this week. While there have been huge changes in the way a phone looks and in the ways that we use them as a lifestyle tool, the impact of the mobile runs far deeper.
One of the factors the changing face of a mobile phone has influenced over the years has been web design. What have the steps been on this journey, and what action has been taken by developers and designers?
Internet Phones
When the internet became available through mobile phones, it was the first real step towards the mobile-centric world in which we find ourselves living today. Yes, phones were popular for their primary function and text messaging, but having internet-enabled phones set us on the path to where we are now.
Today, phoning someone on a mobile is probably one of the less-frequent things we use our handsets for. Instead, we use them for Apps, Social Networks, Games, watching television, and so much more.
Mobile Sites
If you remember the first mobile sites, you’re probably thinking that calling them websites is something of an aberration.
Essentially, they were just lists of text, and especially in the days before zooming screens it was nigh on impossible to get the link you wanted to. There were no pictures, either, making them a boring presentation of black and white.
The sites that didn’t have mobile options were fortunate if their website even loaded at all. Of course, this was partly to do with the fact that most downloads were using regular data connections, but few had really recognized the opportunity that mobile would come to offer in future years.
Evolution
Slowly but surely, however, they eventually began to do so, and mobile sites quickly began to evolve from lists of text to something more interactive and appealing to the user.
Web designers and developers, as well as business owners, started to understand that a mobile user would not need all of the information and detail that they might look for when using a computer, so were able to deliver streamlined, concise websites that focussed in on the needs of the consumer.
Server hosting packages were also revisited to ensure that a website would load just as quickly on mobile as it would on a desktop PC.
At the same time, some persisted, following the notion that they could become leaders and be known for putting a fully functional desktop website onto a mobile.
The World Today
Today, mobile web design has become so central to everything that desktop design is being influenced by it, rather than the other way round.
More desktop sites look like mobile sites, as there is a focus on the simplicity and the necessity for websites to be easy to use.
Research into the development of the internet was only in its early years when the first mobile phone call was made 40 years ago. Today, mobiles influence the internet to a greater degree than ever before in terms of web design, web hosting services, and many more aspects.
Author Bio: Robert is an online content writer with a passion for the technology industry, specifically online sectors such as web design, services such as managed VPS hosting, SEO, and social media.
